Miami Fling
by BingChiLing
Summary: Alyssa Chau Series #6. It's been several months since her kidnapping and Ranger went into the wind. She's picked up a new stalker but it could be that it's finally too much for her to handle? And what's better than to escape to the sunny beaches of Miami South Beach? But with Alyssa's luck would it really be a stress-free escape?
1. Chapter 1

_**Notes and Disclosures:**_ _If the characters seem familiar it's because they probably are! I've taken the setting and several characters from the amazing Plum World given to us by Janet Evanovich and taking them for a spin of my own._

 _ **A/N:**_ _This is the sixth installment to my Alyssa Chau Series and takes place right after "Deuces, Baby"_

 _I want to thank those that have been sticking with me through the different stories and adventures. =)_

 _WARNING: You're going to hate Ranger in this story. I still love him tons but he's going to be a major douche-canoe in this one. Don't say I didn't warn ya!_

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

"And how is that working for you?" the older woman, with the graying hair tied in a tight bun asked me.

"It's working fine," I muttered in annoyance as I shifted on the plush black leather couch.

She gave me a slight head nod as if to say _, "Yeah right,"_ and began scribbling in her notepad.

This woman would be Dr. Patricia Francesco, my therapist. Rangeman brought her in to meet with me twice a week for the past six months since my kidnapping. I was only required to see her for six weeks but the bitch told Tank that I needed further counseling so here I fucking am half a year.

So who am I? I'm Alyssa Chau, the ticking time bomb. A string of bad luck seems to follow me. But to contradict myself, I tend to have a string of good luck to help me get out of the sticky situations I usually get myself into.

I'm a career bounty hunter and part-time Rangeman employee. Rangeman is a private security firm run and owned by my mentor and used to be friend, Ranger. Once upon a time I also tried to describe the sticky and complicated relationship tango with Ranger as my one-time lover but now I just realized that's all he is to me – mentor and employer, nothing more.

He took me under his wing and helped me when I started out as a Bounty Hunter then when I was having a bout of financial strife he gave me a job with his company.

You're probably now wondering what this sticky tango I'm talking about with him now that I've mentioned it, right? Let's just say that Ranger was forged from the majestic mountains erected by the Gods to be put on this Earth as a sexy Rambo-esque superhero.

I'm not really quite sure if he's human. That has yet to be determined. I once thought that Ranger and I shared some sort of hidden passionate love for each other but after he left six months ago, I realized that it was never really true.

I can't even seem to count on him as a friend anymore. So what happened? I'll tell you what happened just like I've been telling this condescending bitch what happened for the past 6 months!

I was kidnapped, not once but twice, by my former Rangeman partner, Deuce. Who was assigned to me by Ranger. This new partner of mine turned out to have some sort of sick vendetta out against Ranger and decided to use me as his collateral to help him punish Ranger. So he kidnapped and abused me for a couple of weeks. Turned out that was six weeks pregnant with Ranger's baby and lost it. End of story.

Yes, my trust in the Merry Men (what I enjoy calling Ranger's band of muscle bound men in black that work for him) and Ranger was slightly damaged but I've come to terms that people cannot predict the actions of others. It's no one's fault but Deuce's ill-conceived actions.

Yes, I was traumatized by what I had to go through. At some point during my capture, I wanted to give up and let go but I came to my senses and my survivor mode kicked in.

Yes, I still have nightmares of what happened to me. I've been through several horrifying situations throughout my life. This just happens to be my most recent episode and the top of my horrifying list but I'm ready to move past it and get on with my life.

But I can't do this having to see this bitch on a constant basis. I feel like she's trying to pry into my life. She wants to go beyond the realm of my incident. She wants to discuss my childhood, my parent's death, growing up orphaned, my non-existent relationship with Ranger, the loss of my baby…

What baby? I'd repeatedly ask her when she asked. I know that it's my denial kicking in but this is how I cope. I never knew I was pregnant with Ranger's baby at the time. I didn't know I even had something growing in my stomach until it was taken away from me. So to me it never existed.

I'm tired of talking about my feelings. I just want to move on. I don't want to analyze the major issues in my life. I'd rather roll around in a dumpster than to sit here and talk to this woman any longer.

"Is there anything you feel you're not sharing, Alyssa," she asked in that remanding know-it-all voice of hers.

"No there's nothing that I feel that I'm not sharing, Dr. Francesco," I answered her annoying question. I looked at my watch and stood up, "Well, look at the time. I know you're a busy woman, Dr. Francesco. I do appreciate your time coming here and all but I gotta get to work now. I'll have someone walk you out."

I shook her hand brusquely and left the confines of Ranger's office. Tank contracted her to come into Rangeman so that I wouldn't have to go through the hassle of driving downtown to her office twice a week. But we all knew the truth; he wanted to make sure I was actually making it to my appointments.

Stepping out into the hall, I almost slammed into a huge dinosaur of a man. "Hal!" I exclaimed enthusiastically at the man I warmly thought of as Halosaurus, as he was a giant that had muscles in places that you didn't even know you could grow muscles.

"Alyssa," he blushed, stepping back slightly. As scary as this man looked, he was the shyest of all the Merry Men. Makes me wonder if he's ever been with a woman.

"Would you be a doll and escort Dr. Francesco to her car?" I waved towards Ranger's office.

"I'd be happy to," he replied.

"Thanks," I smiled and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and watched his face go up in flames.

I loved watching the Merry Men get uncomfortable since they were all a bunch of tough macho men and it was fun to watch them at their most vulnerable moments. It makes it easier to spot their human side.

I walked down to the elevator and hit the down button and stepped in. I haven't heard from Ranger since he left. Half a year has passed and not a single peep. No phone call. Not text. No card or singing telegram. He didn't even have the decency to tell me goodbye in person. He just left me a generic note _, "In the wind,"_ on the pillow next to where I was sleeping and slipped out in the night.

I spent the next two months crashing at Lester and Bobby's who begged me to move in with them permanently. As much as I wanted to take them up on their offer, I knew that it wasn't a healthy or realistic choice. I needed to get on with my life like normal.

So I moved back to my industrial-style apartment that everyone and their mothers seemed to know how to break into. But it was cozy to me, mostly elderly and retired people lived in my building. Most times it was quiet and nobody bothered me. My roommate Monster was low maintenance even though people keep telling me to toss him out with the trash.

Now before you go in shock from the horrifying thought. Monster would be my fern who had a lot of lovely character and class from his lovely brown and yellow highlights along the tips. You know women pay good money to get those types of highlights. Monster gets them for free.

But back on topic, the guys have been great. All of them have been an intense support system and with Ranger gone, I feel like everyone's relaxed enough to interact with me freely without the worries of pissing off the boss. And I have to admit being the only female employee in a company full of gorgeous men is an empowering feeling.

I've been spending a lot of my time with them outside of work and it's been great. I've never been the "hangout" type of girl before. My parents died when I was eleven and I was never adopted. So I kept to myself a lot growing up other than spending time at the local community center in Brooklyn. My passion is in street dancing. So I practiced and trained a lot with the boys growing up but never developed that many friendships.

So it wasn't that hard for me when I left for school and decided to start in a new town. And why I chose Trenton was just a fluke. But it's where I call home now. And I have the most wonderful people in my life. My best friend Misty Plum, whom I met working at E.E. Martin as a lingerie buyer forced her friendship on me.

She's the one that actually helped me get the job as a Bounty Hunter after I was laid off from E.E. Martin after the company merger. Her weasel faced cousin, Vinnie Plum, owns the bonds company that I work for full time.

I never in a million years would've thought that this is where my life would end up but honestly, I wouldn't change it for the world. Even after my many obstacles through this job, I still wouldn't trade it. I mean, sure I would do them differently…but my life is where I feel it should be at the moment…even with the current absence of Ranger.

Because who wouldn't want to be surrounded by gorgeous available men every day? On top of that they've been leaving nice little random gifts and notes at my door step and on my car the past few months. Who knew men could be so kind and thoughtful.

I rapped my knuckles on the black door rapidly and after two seconds the door swung open.

"I need to go now!" I said firmly to the gorgeous blond man with sky blue eyes before me.

"That bad, huh?" Binkie smiled and a cute little dimple graced me with its presence calling me to kiss it, but I've trained long and hard not to give into those urges.

Binkie would be one of the youngest of the Merry Men crew and it's been easy hanging out with him over the past few months. Lester and Bobby are my closest Rangemen friends but I often feel like they're trying to tiptoe around my feelings after everything that happened. I love them dearly but sometimes I just want to be normal and I can't be normal if I feel that there's judgement in the air between us.

Hasn't treated me any differently. Maybe it's because we never really were that close before but he's been the perfect getaway person when I just want to escape from the day.

"It's the same 'ole same 'ole every time! I'm sick of it," I rolled my eyes pushing past him and walked into his bedroom, rifling through his closet.

"If she's that bad, why not just ask Tank to find you a new therapist?" he called out from the door.

"Because that's just too much trouble and it wouldn't matter anyways. Therapists are all the same. They don't want to focus on the issue at hand. They always want more. What you give them is never enough."

"But that's their job. To uncover the underlying issues buried deep inside of you."

"I'm an open book. In fact, you could go down to the box office and buy a front row ticket to my life story if you want. There's no reason to uncover any underlying issues with me. It's a load of crap, and I don't need it. And if I just happen to have any underlying issues that even I don't know of myself, I'd prefer to keep those underlying issues buried deep down in the dark trenches never to be revealed," I grabbed what I was looking for and walked towards his open arms and tucked my face into his chest and breathed out a long and loud sigh.

"What I need right now is to get wet and I need to get wet now!" I said wrapping my arms around his waist and looking up into his beautiful blue eyes.

"Your wish is my command," he grinned and tossed me over his shoulder.


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N:**_ _Thanks to my new followers! We're going to have some with Binkie this story. So I hope that you enjoy Navy SEALs. This year I'm thankful to find writing again and am so grateful to those who've given my stories a whirl. Hope you and your families have a very Happy Thanksgiving!_

 _ **Previous Chapter:**_ _"What I need right now is to get wet and I need to get wet now!" I said wrapping my arms around his waist and looking up into his beautiful blue eyes._

" _Your wish is my command," he grinned and tossed me over his shoulder._

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

"Pretty good — 01:23," Binkie glanced at the stopwatch and crouched down from the edge of the pool to help me out. "You're getting faster."

"But I'm never going to get as fast as you," I replied sloshing water off of my body as I stepped onto the concrete.

"Well, that's true but I've been swimming with the fishes since I was a wee pup," he flashed me those jaw-dropping dimples.

"So it _is_ true that you were a born a baby seal?!" I laughed. Yes, I laugh at my own jokes. If I don't amuse myself, who will?

Binkie was a former Navy SEAL and one of the youngest to move up the rank which was how he got his nickname. And he's been a great person to go swimming with although he's as much of a drill sergeant as the rest of the guys.

As part of the Rangeman employee contract, each employee is required to have at least three days of training a week. I hate running. I suck at hand-to-hand combat although after the incident with Deuce I've agreed every now and then to train with Les on defensive techniques.

One good thing that I got out of the experience was Deuce was right. In the career that I've currently chosen for myself, I deal with a number of unstable characters that has put me in a great number of scary situations. Being in these terrifying situations and not knowing how to fight my way out in a controlled way has proven to be more dangerous than anything. I'm nowhere as good as the guys but I've been getting a little bit better day by day. I don't fall on my ass every minute anymore, only every few minutes.

As for other forms of training, I don't even want to begin to explain how embarrassing weights are for me. So, I learned that swimming is also a great form of exercise and who better to train with but a Navy SEAL himself!

So Binkie has been going to the local community center pool with me at least once a week. I used to swim back in high school as well but not to the extent that Binkie pushes me. And although it's hard work, it's been a lot of fun but don't tell anybody I said that exercise was fun. I have a reputation to maintain.

In between my snorting, I suddenly went airborne and landed in water.

"BINKIE!" I screamed shooting out of the water at the same time a wave splashed me in the face as he dove in next to me.

"You jerk!" I swatted at him as he grabbed ahold of me.

"You know you can't be saying that kind of stuff out loud. You're going to ruin my reputation," he smiled.

"Say what?"

He raised an eyebrow. I think it's a pre-requisite for all Rangeman employees to know how to be sexy, larger than life, silent and stealthy, and know how to quirk eyebrows. I'm still in training and trying to perfect them all. I think the boys let me slip through the prerequisites on an account that I bring a great source of entertainment to their lives.

"Oh you mean…BABY SEEAAALLL?" I shouted at the top of my lungs.

He tossed me over his shoulder dropping me back into the water. We horse played for a while before I wrapped myself around his body so he couldn't throw me anymore.

"Thanks, Binkie," I hugged him tightly. "This was exactly what I needed."

"Anytime," he replied brushing the stray hair from my face but his hand remained cupped around my head as he bore his baby blues into me.

He pulled me in close to him and placed his forehead onto mine. I could feel his breath on my lips a mere millimeters from mine. My heart thumped against my chest.

I closed my eyes, sucked in a deep breath and pushed myself away from him. "Binkie, we can't," I said sadly, "I'm just not ready."

"Alyssa, I'm so sorry," Binkie responded shamefully as his face fell and released me from his embrace. "I shouldn't have been so forward. Of course you're not ready."

"No, no," I waved my hands at him. "It's not your fault. I like you, Binkie, I really do. I just don't think this is the right time or even know if it'll ever be the right time given that we work together," I rambled about not bothering to catch my breath.

"I should've been more aware."

"Binkie, stop it. There's no one at fault here. Maybe we should head back now."

"Good idea," he kissed the top of my head. "Are we ok?"

I smiled at him, "There was never a question of us ever being NOT ok."

 _ **^o^ * ^o^**_

"Brenda, come on, why can't we just do this the easy way?" I pled with the overly dramatic woman with unruly frizzy red hair, wildly waving the kitchen knife pointing it at me from her porch.

"Stay back! I won't go to jail! Not today! Not ever!" she screamed frantically.

Brenda O'Connolly was charged with attempted rape. Yup, you heard me right. Brenda a stodgy, 5'1", fifty-seven year old woman was charged with attempting to rape Brian Hodgkins, a twenty-six year old factory worker.

Hodgkins' girlfriend found a stark-naked Brenda trying to mount her man at 2am after her late shift at the hospital. Brenda had climbed through the window of their ground level apartment while Hodgkins was asleep in his bed.

I sighed placing my hands on my hips, "Brenda, you're not going to go to jail. We can get you bonded out after rescheduling your court date. Plus, if you get yourself a good doctor and lawyer, you won't have to worry about going to jail at all. But you can't avoid jail if you keep skipping your court hearing!" I scolded her.

So it turns out that Brenda was possibly under the influence of drugs — sleeping pills to be exact. One of the side effects of the drug is sleepwalking and another is increased sex drive. Weird side effects if you ask me. But Hodgkins' girlfriend said she sees those cases all the time at the hospital. So I made a mental note not to touch sleeping pills.

She flung the knife at me and I swerved to the side as it missed my face by an inch and it clamored to the ground.

"You crazy, bitch!" I yelled back at her as she pushed past me and took off running down the street.

I really hate it when they run. I chased after her as she knocked over trash cans and other miscellaneous items over so I had to dodge them.

I leapt over a fallen trashcan and tackled her to the ground. And surprisingly for a stodgy, fifty-something woman, she was quite strong. She slapped me across the face that stunned me for a bit so I grabbed a handful of her hair and yanked her head to the side.

Yeah, I know. A little bit unorthodox but I don't really pay full attention to the hand-to-hand combat training as I should. The training consisted mostly of the guys knocking me to the ground and me just lying there in defeat. So I had to resort to "girl" fighting…biting, hair pulling, slapping. It was quite pathetic but this woman was strong and I didn't want to do something to hurt her.

"Why did you have to leave me?" she shrieked maniacally as she continued to slap at my face.

"What the hell are you talking about? I tried to chase you down!" I screamed back at her as I shield my face.

"Why did you leave?" she wailed and then began gyrating her hips.

"Oh my fucking god! What are you fucking doing?" I yelped in disgust as she rocked her hips back and forth.

She was fucking dry humping me! She placed her hands on my breasts and squeezed as she continued to move herself back and forth. I attempted to push her off but for some reason was more struck with shock and couldn't contemplate a successful plan of escape.

"Really? Have you given up on the male species already and started batting for the other team?" a male voice sniggered from above me.

"Shut up, Carl, and get her off of me!" I shouted at the uniformed officer standing above me.

"I don't know, Aly. This is actually kind of hot. I think I'll just spectate for a little bit longer, if you don't mind," he said after I saw a flash and a click sound of a camera.

"CARLTON DAVID COSTANZA!" I screamed at the top of my lungs in anger.

He laughed as he hauled Brenda off of me. Carl Costanza was an old college friend turned cop. And every time I see his face, I just want to smack it. Why? Because this man finds joys in my disasters, he leads the pool of bets at the police station on when the next untimely demise of my current vehicles will happen.

"You've been having quiet couple of months there, Aly. The Bomber taking a break?"

I socked him in the arm. "Bomber" would be short for "Bombshell Bounty Hunter" which some dumbass journalist decided to deem me after one vehicle explosion. Ok…so it happened several times again after that but I think it's because he jinxed me after giving me that nickname.

I've had quite the rush of bad luck with cars. But within the last six months or so, I've luckily not had an incident with my current vehicle (knock on wood).

"Whoa there!" he stepped back as Brenda turned and began dry humping his leg. "She's a feisty one," he commented before handing her off to Big Dog, his partner, to detain her. "I hate to admit it but that's probably the most action I've gotten in weeks."

I chuckled at him, "She's FTA," I said handing him the paperwork, "under the influence of sleeping pills."

Carl nodded and pulled out his body receipt pad and began jotting down the information.

"You probably should take her to the hospital instead of the precinct. I think she needs to see a doctor. She's acting a little crazy."

He nodded, "Will do. Yeah she's not usually this crazy. Brenda was a pretty quiet and reserved woman until her husband Rich left her for another woman and ran off."

"I want to give her something before you haul her away."

"Sure," he stalked off to talk to Big Dog as I approached the squad car.

Pulling a little card out of my purse I leaned over the window and slid it into Brenda's breast pocket. "This is Dr. Francesco's card. She's really good. You should try giving her a call and let her know I referred you, she may try to and fit you in."

She spit in my direction and screamed like a banshee, "You probably made him leave me!"

I stepped aside dodging the cootie missile and shook my head at her. Hey, you can't fault me for trying.

"You ok here, Aly?" Carl asked as he walked back to the car.

"I'm good thanks," I replied giving him quick head nod and waved them off.

I slid into my car and was about to turn on the engine when I noticed something furry lying on the bottom in the middle of my windshield. I stared at it for a bit trying to decipher what it could possibly be. I stared back into its beady black eyes staring back of me and red ooze coming from its neck and realized that it was a dead crow.

Gross! Why would this dumb bird decide to die on my car of all cars! I shuddered at its dead carcass and turned on the engine. I flipped on the windshield wipers but it did nothing but smear the blood on the windshield and nudge the body on the windshield.

"ARGH!" I grunted in frustration and pulled out my cell phone.

"Wifey," the sexy man on the other line answered.

"I need you," I said quickly, hoping it didn't sound whiney.

"Be there in five," his voice turned brisk as he hung up.

"Goodbye to you too. No, I'm ok. I wasn't beaten up or anything," I said sarcastically into the dead line.

What the men at Rangeman weren't trained to do was have polite phone manners or respect your privacy. None of them seemed to know how to politely end a phone conversation.

 _Beep._

I swiped at my phone to check the incoming text.

"Stop talking to yourself. 😊"

I rolled my eyes although I was quite impressed with the usage of the smiley. Nice touch, I thought to myself.

Rangemen had some sort of superhuman powers of ESP where they could read your every thought. The sexy voice on the other end of the line would be Manny. He knew where I was without me even bothering to tell him was because Rangeman put trackers on my vehicle.

Although my vehicle is not Rangeman property, Ranger feels the need to keep track of me at all the times to ensure my safety. I think it's a gross invasion of my privacy but every time I remove them, another one seems to magically appear. So I've given up. Not even sure why he cares anymore, given that he hasn't given a shit about me for the past half year.

 _Knock. Knock._

I jumped a few feet in the air as Manny's knuckles rapped on my window and the door swung open.

"You should be more aware of your surroundings, Wifey," Manny smiled leaning down to kiss me on the cheek.

"Why? When I knew it was you, dear hubby," I hugged him back as I stepped out of the car.

Manny wasn't really my husband. A girl could only be so lucky to wake up every morning to this handsome Latino man in her bed. When I first purchased my car, I took Manny with me and we pretended to be married and it just stuck…well, that and the accidental elopement in Vegas but let's focus on the present, shall we?

"A bird decided to take its last breath on my windshield and I can't get it off."

"You're such a girl," he chuckled looking at the mess on the windshield.

"Take that back," I glared at him.

He kissed me on the top of the head in response and walked back to his truck and grabbed a bag and stuffed some items into it. "Where are you headed to next?"

"I was going to head back to Rangeman and see if I could catch Tank."

He nodded and held out his eyes to me, "I'll take care of this. You can take my car and I'll meet you back at Rangeman."

"No you don't have to do that," I frowned at him.

"It's fine. I was about to head in to start my shift. I'll just call Ram to cover me for a little bit longer until I make it in."

I threw my arms around his neck and gave him a kiss on his jawline, "You're the best hubby ever!"

"You say that but yet you never reciprocate the appreciation," he winked at me suggestively.

"On that note, I'll see you later," I grabbed the keys from his hands and trotted off.

I'm usually used to flirting from the guys but after the almost kiss from Binkie this afternoon. I wasn't sure if I could take the overload at the moment.


	3. Chapter 3

_**A/N:**_ _I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. I definitely did my share of too much Black Friday shopping for myself. :p This isn't a particularly exciting chapter but it will open the doors to lead into more of the plot. Hope you enjoy!_

 _ **Previous Chapter:**_ _I threw my arms around his neck and gave him a kiss on his jawline, "You're the best hubby ever!"_

" _You say that but yet you never reciprocate the appreciation," he winked at me suggestively._

" _On that note, I'll see you later," I grabbed the keys from his hands and trotted off._

 _I'm usually used to flirting from the guys but after the almost kiss from Binkie this afternoon. I wasn't sure if I could take the overload at the moment._

* * *

 **Chapter 3**

"Tank, I don't want to go to my sessions anymore."

"Little Girl," the large towering mountain we call Tank said in a disapproving voice to me.

"No, I don't want to argue about it. I've talked through my issues with what happened with Deuce, and yes I am still going to have to deal with some of those feelings. But I feel like I'm at a point where I can move on normally now. The standard requirement for Rangeman employees to go through this is six weeks. I've been doing it for six months! I can't take it anymore. All she wants to do is rehash my past and I don't want to delve into it."

"Ranger and I believe that it's good for you to continue seeing Dr. Francesco. You've been dealt a lot of tough cards over the last year."

"Ranger?" I shouted more loudly than I probably should have. "What gives him the right to say what's good for me? He's not even here. Where the fuck he is, god only knows!"

"Calm down, Little Girl," Tank sand sternly placing a hand on my shoulder.

"Ok, I take that back. YOU know where he is. Probably everyone knows except for me. But that's not the point. The point is that he has no right to say what I need or what is good for me especially when he's not even around! I know what I need and what's good for me.

"And seeing this therapist is not doing me any good. It's causing me more stress than comfort. What I need is to move on with my life normally. What I need is for you to put me back on the field and give me a new partner. I'm tired of being confined to a desk or monitor duty because you're tiptoeing around me. All of that is making me remember and hold onto what's going on with me more!"

"It's not my decision to make. I will talk with Ranger."

"You do that!" I grit out indignantly and turned towards the door, "but no matter what decision the two of you come down to. I will NOT be seeing her any longer. And if the two of you don't like that, then you can just fire me."

I stomped out into the hallway letting the door slam shut behind me.

"Hey, Wifey," Manny smiled stepping through the stairway door and started to hand me my keys. "Whoa, what's wrong?"

"Nothing!" I bit at him.

He frowned and held onto the keys tight into his hands as I tried to snatch them from him. "Tell me," he said firmly and pulled me rigid body into his for a hug.

"Sorry," I muffled into his chest. "Tank and I just had a little disagreement. Thanks for taking care of my car," I pulled away from him and handed the keys to his truck from my purse and exchange them for mine.

"Do you need to talk about it?"

"No," I shook my head. "I'm fine. Go start your shift."

"Ok, you know how to reach me if you change your mind. Also, I think that crow was left on your windshield," his voice had a hint of worry. "I just can't see how it would've just died on your windshield. Have you noticed anything strange lately?"

I shook my head "no" and dismissed his concern. "It was probably just some kid playing a prank. Thanks for taking care of the carcass for me. I wouldn't worry too much about it," I said heading to the elevator and pulling out my phone.

"I need a drink and I need one now," I said quickly into the receiver after dialing out.

 _ **^o^ * ^o^**_

"You need to move on from that asshole," the beautiful blond shouted over the pumping bass.

"There's nothing to move on from. It was never a thing," I stated loudly taking a drag from my beer.

For those who know me, would find this out of character for me. I'm not a drinker. In fact, my college nickname was the _"two sip wonder."_ I don't handle my alcohol well and honestly, I never really cared for the taste of it. But I've been finding myself leaning towards it more and more after my incident and it helps to numb my mind.

"You keep telling yourself that, Alyssa, and maybe someday you'll actually believe it," Misty said sarcastically. "You slept with him and that's something big for you. And then he just dropped you like a sack of potatoes and left. Not only that you were carrying his child for almost 2 months and he wasn't even there for you to go through the loss."

I shook my head, "It wasn't his responsibility to take care of me. And I knew going into it with Ranger that he doesn't do relationships. He's always been honest and up front with me. I shouldn't have had other expectations."

"Whatever. The man's a dumbass. It's time for you to forget about the jerk and just move onto bigger and better things."

"Maybe I should've married Joe and moved to DC with him. Life would probably be much easier right now," I sighed.

Joe would be Joseph Morelli, my ex-boyfriend. He's an ex-Trenton Police Detective who got recruited into the FBI and is now living in DC. Over New Year's he asked me to marry him and move to DC. I turned him down knowing that although I cared a great deal for him. I just wasn't sure if he was _the one_. So he moved on without me.

Joe and I, throughout our relationship, were usually on opposite ends of the spectrum and there was a lot of tension between us. He didn't like how I lived my life and I didn't want it to change. I know that he loved me and cared for my safety, but I'm just not ready nor am I sure I will ever be ready to have someone dictate what I can and cannot do with my own life.

"Hell to the NO!" she exclaimed. "Yeah, your life would've been simpler but you wouldn't be happy. What you need is to find someone to take your mind off of things. Live a little. Who said that you even need to fall into a relationship at this point in your life? In fact, why not take a vacation and have a little fling?" she clapped excitedly.

"I don't have time for a vacation."

"Bullshit! I know you're making pretty solid money at Rangeman and you've been rolling in the skips lately. I know cause my stupid Cousin Vinnie wouldn't shut up about how the business is booming at the family dinner last week."

She was right. The last couple of months have been generous to me financially. And for once I did start putting money into my savings account.

"I can hear those hamster wheels spinning in your head, Aly. Let's do it. I should be able to take a week off later this month. We can go somewhere together!"

I beamed back at her, "Let's do it."

"So where do you want to go?"

"Somewhere warm and near the water," I suggested.

With all of that swimming I've been doing with Binkie, my body's become pretty tone and I'd love to show it off at the beach and not be self-conscious by hiding it away behind a wrap or towel.

"And there needs to be a lot of hot men," Misty stated then tapped her nose with enthusiasm and pointed at me, "MIAMI!"

"I've never been there before," I let the thought sink in.

"Then it's perfect. There're tons of gorgeous men in Miami. Everyone's gorgeous in South Beach. It's the perfect place for a hot fling."

"I don't do flings."

"You do now!" she exclaimed. "It's just the thing to get your mind off of that Latino Jackoff Sex God and find yourself a new one. Plus, you can do some reinventing of yourself."

I frowned at her.

She waved me off, "Plus wouldn't it be nice for you to finally sink your teeth into a juicy man that doesn't make you feel guilty? Since you have that guilty conscious of not wanting to sleep with your Justice League team of hot men because you work with them? It's time that you get your groove on with some guilt free meat."

My mind wandered to Binkie's almost kiss.

"It's settled!" she broke through my thoughts. "We're going to Miami in a few weeks. We'll fly down and spend a nice relaxing yet fun-filled week in Miami. Now let's drink!"

 _ **^o^ * ^o^**_

The smell of crisp french fries wafted in the air as I attempted to pry my eyes opened and was greeted with the golden arches.

"God what happened?" I groaned rolling over onto my back and threw my hands over my eyes.

"Bones tells me that you girls had quite the drinking binge last night," Binkie smiled down at me as he helped sit me up against the headboard.

Bones is a part of the band of Merry Men who also happens to be Misty's live-in boyfriend. Misty was my best friend and the complete opposite of me in every way. As I was a short and at certain angles semi-attractive brunette, Misty was a leggy gorgeous blond with all of the confidence in the world and perfection for days. She used to be one of those love 'em and leave 'em kind of girls until she met Bones who helped her hang up her single bachelorette shoes and settle into a domesticated, monogamous relationship. I really was happy that they found each other.

"Ugh, worst idea ever," I moaned.

He chuckled while sinking down next to me and began unwrapping the McDonald's goodness for me.

"So what made you come here and bring me goodies?" I asked stuffing a fry into my mouth.

I learned to stop asking how and why these guys are able to get into my apartment. It just seems like they all have the power to and won't share on their tricks of the trade so I just stopped fighting it.

"Bones called me up and knew that we usually go swimming on Fridays so he just wanted to give me a heads up that I probably shouldn't be expecting you."

"Well, thank you. This was just want I needed," I said stuffing the last bite of cheeseburger into my mouth and washing it down with a coke. "You working today?"

He shook his head, "Nope. Off."

"Well, I'm going to take the day off to be a bum," I expressed.

"I figured. So I picked up your files from Vinnie's on my way over and left them on your kitchen counter. Told them you wouldn't be in today and you're not scheduled at Rangeman."

I reached up and kissed him on the cheek, "You're too good to me, Binkie. So what are your plans for the day?"

"I was hoping you wouldn't mind hanging out with me. Movies perhaps? And if you're feeling better towards the evening maybe some dancing?"

"Sounds wonderful!" I snuggled up against his side. "But right now, I need a little nap," I yawned.

 _ **^o^ * ^o^**_

Binkie dropped me off at my place after dinner and a movie so that I could get dressed and he could run back to his place at Rangeman to get changed. I was putting on the final touches to my makeup with my phone buzzed.

"Hello," I answered without looking and swiping on the last coat of mascara.

"Babe."

My heart stopped. My body was taken over with the sensation of uncontrollable tingles.

"Babe?" his voice cut through my thoughts.

I sucked in a deep breath. "Hi, who's this?"

"Babe," he responded with a hint of amusement and exhaustion.

Ranger, the man with so few words could have so many meanings that makes you feel differently with the way he said them.

"Ranger?" I feigned confusion.

I could hear a faintest chuckle fill my ears. And when Ranger laughed it was beautiful that made me want to fill a room with and live in it.

"Sorry, I almost didn't recognize your voice being that I haven't heard in almost half a year," I replied with sarcasm oozing from my voice.

"Babe." (This was a tone of don't be ridiculous, like anyone in this world could ever forget me. Ok so maybe the last part wouldn't be something he'd actually think.) "Tank says you're stopping therapy."

"Yeah," I replied in a more annoyed voice. So this is what he called about.

"Babe, therapy will help you."

"It's not."

"Maybe not now, but it will," he spoke in a calm soothing voice.

"I'm not doing it anymore, Ranger. I know myself. You don't. It's not helping. And you're not even around, how the hell would you know if it's working or not."

 _Knock. Knock._

I went and swung open the door and stood face-to-face with a gorgeous Binkie dressed in a smart charcoal gray slacks and midnight blue button down that made his light baby blues seem to glow. I licked my lips to keep myself from salivating.

"Babe."

"I'm not going anymore. If you don't like it, fire me," I said firmly and hung up the phone. "Wow," I stood speechlessly at the door staring at the incredible specimen in front of me.

"I could say the same for you," he smiled back at me admiring my blue and silver foiled tube dress and gave me a kiss on the cheek.

"Who were you talking to?" he asked as he shut the door and furnished a bouquet of flowers.

"Thank you," I said taking the flowers from him and walked back into the kitchen to put them in water.

"I wish I could take credit for them, but I just found them in front of your door. No card."

"Oh," I said wondering who would send me a beautiful arrangement.

"So who were you on the phone with?" Binkie repeated his previous question.

"No one special."

"So why would no one special have the ability to fire you?"

I rolled my eyes, "Ranger."

"You're telling him to fire you? Why?" he's eyebrows furrowed in concern.

"Because I'm sick and tired of him forcing therapy on me. He's not here to understand how it's affecting me. It's stressing me out more than it's helping me."

"Don't leave Rangeman. We're growing quite fond of you there," Binkie said wrapping his arms around me.

"I know. 'Cause you guys would end up being bored to tears without me," I said slugging him in the shoulder. "I can't stay out too late tonight. I want to get an early start on some skips," I said as I went to pull on my shoes and grabbed my clutch.

"No problem. I have an early shift," Binkie nodded in understanding. "So let's get this party started."


	4. Chapter 4

_**A/N:**_ _Happy hump day! So how about that Ranger, huh? Calling out of nowhere. Sheesh. :D Hoping this chapter will get your adrenaline pumping. Hope you enjoy!_

 _ **Previous Chapter:**_ _"Don't leave Rangeman. We're growing quite fond of you there," Binkie said wrapping his arms around me._

" _I know. 'Cause you guys would end up being bored to tears without me," I said slugging him in the shoulder. "I can't stay out too late tonight. I want to get an early start on some skips," I said as I went to pull on my shoes and grabbed my clutch._

" _No problem. I have an early shift," Binkie nodded in understanding. "So let's get this party started."_

* * *

 **Chapter 4**

"Careful," Binkie said as he lifted me into my bed. "Here let me do that," he insisted, helping me with my shoes.

Some doltz at the club decided to start hitting on me while Binkie was at the bar grabbing us a drink. I was trying to give him the heave ho which he refused to take the hint and grabbed onto my wrist and began to get rough.

I would have totally had it under control but Binkie being a Merry Man and having etched in his DNA to be protective came to my aid within a matter of seconds. The idiot decided to pick a fight with him and gave me a hard shove which ended up with me losing my balance and falling to the ground giving me a twisted ankle.

The idiot didn't have a fighting chance though. Binkie had him subdued and on the ground with a blink of an eye.

"I shouldn't have left you alone," he grumbled.

"We've been over this, Binkie. It wasn't your fault. The guy was an idiot."

"Let me get you some ice to help keep the swelling down."

He returned with a bag of frozen peas. Why the hell were there frozen peas in my freezer? I wouldn't be caught dead buying something that healthy and placing it in my fridge — must have been Bobby. He stops by every other week to make sure that I'm not starving and stocks my kitchen and sometimes cooks for me like a Fairy Food Mother. I tell him all the time that he'd make the perfect wife for someone one day.

He motioned for me to climb into bed and applied the peas to my ankle.

"It's not really that bad, Binkie," I reassured him.

We stayed there in silence for a while as he fiddled with the bag of peas on my ankle.

"You know…" he cleared his voice "…I know we don't really talk about this kind of stuff but Ranger leaving you like that right after what happened, wasn't right. He should've been here for you."

I started to glare at him but stopped myself. It was only fair that we've spent this much time together as friends and rumors fly. It'd be human to be curious about it. Hell, if I was in his shoes I'd be curious. So I tamped down my temper and slowly tore down my wall. I blinked back a tear threatening to escape my right eye.

"I'm not his responsibility. It's fine."

"It's not fine. He was man enough to create life within you. He should be man enough to take care of his responsibilities afterwards. I would've never left you to deal with this by yourself," he said angrily grabbing my hands, his blue eyes looked almost stormy.

"And that's why you're here now and he's not," I smiled at him and touched his cheek.

"I don't know what's going on between you and the boss but the way he's been acting after the whole incident with Deuce even during the period before the incident…" he trailed off angrily.

"Binkie," I said softly watching the emotions splay across his face. His compassion and display of emotions is a complete opposite of Ranger. If I never had Ranger in the picture, I would've fallen head over heels for this man. But as hard as I may try, I can't seem to push Ranger aside in my heart but I need to work harder. "Nothing's going on with me and Ranger and he made it very clear to me from the very beginning that nothing ever will," my voice choked on the last words.

"But even still—you have feelings for him."

I sucked in a deep breath and replied softly, "I don't know. I don't know what I have for him."

"He's an idiot."

"Now that I can completely agree with," I smiled up at him. "You should get going, I know you have an early morning shift and I'm starting to get tired."

He nodded his head and brought my hand to his lips. "Try to stay off that," he pointed to my ankle, "if it's still giving you trouble tomorrow, you should see, Bobby."

"Yes, daddy," I replied indignantly.

His eyes clouded over, "I can give you other reasons to call me 'daddy."

I threw a pillow at him and laughed, "Stop spending so much time with Les! He's corrupting you!"

He let out the most glorious laugh and tossed the pillow back at me. "Good night, Bomber," and shut the door behind him.

 _ **^o^ * ^o^**_

I walked towards the kitchen starving as my ankle was feeling much better. I stopped short and saw a million tiny black creepy crawlies all over the kitchen counter and cabinets and let out a tiny yelp. I turned to run out of the kitchen when I collided into a hard rock on my way to towards the living room.

"Whoa! Where's the fire, Beautiful?" the rock steadied me.

"Wh-what?" I stood trying to collect my thoughts. "What are you doing here, Les?"

"Brought you breakfast. What's wrong?"

"There's an army of spiders in my kitchen! It's a hostile takeover!"

"Uh huh," Les set me aside nonchalant and strode towards the kitchen. "I never took you as the 'scared of a little spider' type of girl, Beautiful — Fuck…"

"I told you!" I shouted from behind them. "Where did they come from and make them go away!"

"It looks like they're coming from this flower vase," Les said inspecting the flowers.

"Gross," I shuddered. "I'm going to shower I feel all icky now."

"I'll go down and talk to Dillon for you," Les volunteered.

Dillon would be the building's Superintendent. It's a wonder that he doesn't hate me with all the issues that I keep having at the apartment from vandalism, to a firebomb and now an infestation problem.

"Thanks, Les," I trotted off to the shower and emerged fifteen minutes later fully dressed and ready to start the day.

Les and Dillon were talking in the living room. I approached them, "Are they gone?"

Dillon shook his head, "I placed a call to the exterminators to come in this afternoon. They're probably going to have to fumigate the kitchen so you might want to find another place to stay for the night."

I nodded, "Thanks, Dillon. I owe you one."

"No problem, Alyssa. Nothing exciting has happened in a few months so it was high time," he smiled jokingly.

I stuck my tongue out at him.

"It looks like there was a spiderling sack in your flowers and they probably hatched overnight. Gotta be careful with those wildflowers. You never know what's hiding on them."

"Gross."

He shrugged as he let himself out, "I'll see you around, Alyssa."

"You can stay with me," Les said. "What are you up to today?" he walked me out door.

"I've got a couple of low risk skips today and then heading to the community center for a quick dance lesson."

"Great, I'll swing by here after my shift and pack you a bag. Come straight to the house for dinner tonight. We can watch some Netflix and _chill_ ," he waggled his eyebrows.

I smacked him playfully on the arm and got into my car.

 _ **^o^ * ^o^**_

Today went without a hitch. I was easily catching up with the few skips Vinnie had for me. I sat outside of Tommy Schafer's tiny shack. The shingles were falling off, I don't even know what color the house was supposed to be, an olive green perhaps? And his junker car in the driveway made my past cars look like gems.

He was charged for armed robbery of a local liquor store which he shot at the store clerk and grazed his arm. Why he was released on bail was beyond me. His rap sheet was a mile long.

 _Buzz._

"Hello?" I answered.

"Are you excited about our trip yet?" Misty's voice screeched over the phone.

Honestly, I had forgotten about it.

"Hello? Earth to Aly."

"Sorry, Mis. Yeah, excited…" my voice tailed off as I watched Schafer's house. "Ah! I gotta go! Call you later, Mis," I spat out as I saw Schafer running out of his house and jumping into his car and speeding off.

I hit the end call button and threw it into the passenger seat as a fleet of cars all pulled up to Schafer's house abruptly.

I took off after Shaefer's car when I heard the sound of rubber screeching. Checking my rearview mirror, I noticed the fleet of cars were all pulling around the block and heading down the street towards him.

What the fuck has Schaefer gotten himself into? The cars caught up to me and then I heard the distinct popping sounds of gunfire.

Shit! A simple skip pickup has quickly turned into a car chase. My phone began to vibrate in the seat next to me. I reached over to grab it but was thrown forward. The phone slipped out of my hands and landed on the floor out of my reach as I was rammed from behind by a large black truck that came flying out from a side road.

Fuck! What the hell was this person's problem? I have no beef with them. I just want to catch my FTA. We were flying down the street on a high-speed chase with me after my FTA and these crazy scary men with guns chasing him as well. So why wasn't I just slowing down and getting out of the way so that these guys can continue their pursuit of him and I could just go after him another day? Because I'm a glutton for punishment, that's why.

Although, this black truck that joined our chase a few moments ago seemed to be more interested in chasing me and not Schaefer. The windows tinted so I couldn't see who was behind the wheel but it looked like it was a short midget because I could make out the outline of what looked like a tiny head popping over the steering wheel. And it didn't look like anybody was in the passenger seat.

This person also wasn't hanging out the windows trying to shoot at Schaefer's car. We made a sharp abrupt right turn dangerously approaching Stark Street. One of the cars in the chase hit Shaefer's car from the right side and which spun him around uncontrollably causing all of us to come to a screeching stop. His pursuers boxed him in and a few vicious looking men stepped out of the car with their guns cocked.

I sat in my car stopped behind them and watched as one man pulled open Shaefer's door and three of the armed men aimed and fired. My mouth dropped open in horror at the execution I had just witnessed when then men turned and faced me and began walking towards my vehicle.

I quickly leaned over trying to grab for my phone as it continued to buzz uncontrollably. I sat up just as I noticed them shouting something at each other and their guns were drawn. Hitting the answer button, switching on the Bluetooth feature, I hit a button to sync with my hands-free then quickly threw my car into reverse.

"What's going on?" Manny's urgent voice rang clear over the car speakers.

"I'm right outside Stark Street. My FTA just got gunned down!" I shrieked loudly. "They're now coming after me."

"Stay on the main roads, Alyssa. A team is tracking you right now and should be with you in a few minutes."

"I'm ok Manny don't worry about me. I'll keep driving. They didn't see my face, I was just chasing my FTA and they came out of nowhere. But I'm pretty sure that I've lost the—" my sentence got cut off as the large black truck returned behind me and hit from behind.

"Who the fuck are you?" I shouted into my mirror staring at the truck.

"Talk to me, Alssya. What is going on?"

"This black SUV keeps trying to run me off the road."

"Can you see a plate?"

"Hershey – Twix – Zero – Butterfinger – Two – Four," I recited trying to concentrate on the SUV and the road ahead of me.

Then the truck just stopped and made a quick right turn down a small side street and took off.

"Oh my god, I think they've decided to give up," I slowed the car down and breathed out in relief.

"Keep driving, Alyssa. Drive until you can find a safe place. A team is only a few miles behind yo—"

He cut off as the black truck came flying out from my right at full speed and slammed into the side of my SUV sending me reeling straight into several park cars and coming to a stop as it kissed an electric pole.

My airbags burst out and pummeled me slamming me back into the seat with my seatbelts locking me into place. My heart was racing a million miles a minute as I tried catching my breath. I blinked a few times trying to clear the cobwebs from my head and tried pushing the airbags from my face.

I turned my head as I heard an engine rev up and saw the truck's headlights shining right at me as it approached me and slammed into the passenger side and the splintering sound of the wood electric pole as it came tumbling down onto the hood of my car. I raised my hands over my face shielding myself before blacking out.

And my last thoughts were, _"Damnit, I never got to attempt that fling in Miami…"_


	5. Chapter 5

_**A/N:** Yay it's Friday! This chapter's a bit longer than my usual so I hope you enjoy it! I hope everyone has a great weekend!_

 _ **Previous Chapter:**_ _My airbags burst out and pummeled me slamming me back into the seat with my seatbelts locking me into place. My heart was racing a million miles a minute as I tried catching my breath. I blinked a few times trying to clear the cobwebs from my head and tried pushing the airbags from my face._

 _I turned my head as I heard an engine rev up and saw the truck's headlights shining right at me as it approached me and slammed into the passenger side and the splintering sound of the wood electric pole as it came tumbling down onto the hood of my car. I raised my hands over my face shielding myself before blacking out._

 _And my last thoughts were, "Damnit, I never got to attempt that fling in Miami…"_

* * *

 **Chapter 5**

"Fuck…" I groaned, prying my eyes open, "Who the fuck hit me in the head?"

"You were in an accident, Beautiful," Les spoke up stroking my head gently.

"You're a lucky woman, Ms. Chau," an older gentleman's voice entered the room. "From what I hear, you were in a pretty nasty accident but you didn't suffer any major damages. Just hit your head but the swelling should go down within a few days and your body may experience some discomfort from the impact."

"Can I go home then?" I asked the doctor.

"I'm just going to run a few more tests then you can be released," he smiled, nodding at the nurse.

Les took me home later that night, fed me and tucked me into the cozy covers.

"Were you able to get any description of the person that did this to you?" he asked plopping himself down next to me in bed.

I shook my head, "No, and the weird thing is that I don't believe the person in that car was a part of the hit on my skip. It seemed like whoever it was, was targeting me specifically and it just happened to be a coincidence. Did you learn anything on scene? The rookie cop at the hospital who took my statement wouldn't give me any info."

"We don't have any leads. The car that hit you was a stolen vehicle and wiped clean. The only lead that we got was that when the cops arrived on scene, they say the suspect took off. And one of the newbies said they looked like a kid."

"A kid?"

"Rookies don't have a keen eye for detail yet. But my guess is that he meant the person was of a small frame. Perhaps a female? I don't recall you having any outstanding FTAs."

"Nope, Tommy Schaefer was my only open skip left and I wasn't even planning on taking him in last night. I was just staking him out. I had a few more days. I haven't brought any attention to myself with him yet. But he's dead isn't he? I saw those men shoot him."

"Schaefer was involved with a bank heist a few towns over and apparently squatted on more money than was reportedly stolen and pissed off his team. That's who went after him."

I shrugged, "Makes sense."

"I'm pretty sure I lost a few years on my life today, beautiful. Your car looking like it went through a trash compactor."

"I'm sorry."

"You can make it up to me," he wagged his eyebrow and slipped under the covers and pulled me into his body.

I laughed uncontrollably as I struggled against his tickling fingers.

 _ **^o^ * ^o^**_

"Well, get rid of it!" I squeaked in a higher pitched voice than I intended it to be.

We both stood staring at the decapitated black ball of fur staining the carpet in front of my apartment door. I returned to my apartment today after a lovely rendezvous with Stacey Pinkert at the Donut Paradise the next morning.

I thought, _"Hey, I could kill two birds with one stone this morning and be exceptionally productive! Stacey worked at the local Donut Paradise and I could stop for some breakfast."_

But the brat decided she didn't want to go quietly. Instead she decided to throw a whole tray of powdered raspberry jelly filled donuts in my face. She certainly wasn't worth the trouble. She was charged with destruction of private property at local gas station. She was on the rag and the tampon machine ate her last quarter.

And if you're a female and you're in dire need of some feminine hygiene products, you can relate to her frustration. But the Station Owner decided to press charges against her. The judge released her on a low bond and she was really only worth $30 to me. And that certainly wasn't worth the laundry bill for my wardrobe and the chase through the back kitchen.

After dropping her off at the precinct and unsuccessfully dodging Carl's relentless jokes, I raced home to shower only be greeted by a headless rat the size of a cat at my doorstep. I can only imagine that it was a gift from Mrs. Bestler's cat, Fluffy…her way of thanking me for rescuing her off the fire escape the other night.

"Why didn't you just ask your Super?" Vince asked turning up his nose.

"I tried but he's not home."

"This is gross."

"And you're a pansy," I teased at him as he pulled out his gloves and a bag.

"This coming from a girl who called the Control Room because she didn't want to touch it herself," he gave me a sideways glance.

I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Hasn't anybody told you it's better to eat your breakfast and not wear it?" he grinned at me as he disposed the carcass into the black plastic bag.

"Ha ha. You're so funny."

"You sure got a lot of animals dying around you lately, Bomber. You sure it's just a coincidence?" he asked tying up the bag.

I scrunched my nose, "You know you're right. Are you trying to tell me that I could've possibly been cursed?"

"Uh, I don't believe in curses. I was thinking more along the lines of a new stalker."

"I haven't gotten any threatening notes or messages. And I don't know who would be stalking me right now. It's been quiet and most of the people who hate me are either in jail or dead," trying not to plant unwanted pictures in my head as I said it.

"Still, you should be careful. Probably wouldn't hurt if you give Ranger the heads up."

"If it continues, I'll run it by _Tank_ ," I grumbled at the thought of Ranger.

I haven't heard from him since his last phone call. Not that I was expecting him to call me again. But he didn't even bother to call and check up on me after the car accident which I'm sure someone would've informed him about. Ranger is only but a passing memory to me now.

"Is there anything else you need?"

"No, thanks for coming out, Vince," I slugged him in the shoulder not knowing what else to do since he had a dead rat in his hands and I was covered in powdered sugar and jelly filling.

"Anytime," he retreated down the stairs and let the door slam shut behind him.

I finished my shower and checked my phone for missed calls or messages as the red blinking indicator light blinked on my phone. One text message bubble showed up on the screen.

 **YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO DIE LIKE THE RAT, BITCH.**

Well, that solves that mystery — Not a coincidence. I sat down on the bed and stared at the message trying to rack my brain for any clues as to who would be mad at me right now and couldn't come up with a single clue.

 _Buzz. Buzz._

Binkie's picture flashed up on the screen.

"Hi," I greeted happily.

"You free tonight for dinner and movie?"

"Ugh that sounds amazing but can't. I have a night shift at Rangeman tonight."

"Raincheck?"

"You bet!"

"Maybe I'll catch you at the office when you come in on your shift. See you later, Alyssa."

 _Click._

A Merry Man with polite phone manners? Be still my heart. I smiled to myself.

 _ **^o^ * ^o^**_

I pulled up in front of a worn down single-family home. It looked like it could use a little bit of tender loving care but was well lived in. A few toys littered the yard and wicker porch furniture on the stoop.

I was looking for Kit Johnson. I swung by the address listed in his files for his cousin's apartment but no one was home. So I called up Connie and asked if she could run a search on where his previous home address so that I could go and talk to his wife about his possible whereabouts. His wife, Kristen, pressed charges against him for domestic abuse after the police were called by one of the neighbors. He unfortunately was released on bail but a restraining order was set up for him to stay at least 500 feet away from her and their two children.

I stepped out of Les' beloved electric blue Camaro he lent to me since my car was suddenly out of commission. I started making my way up the walkway when I heard loud shouting followed by a _"pop pop"_ sound.

I quickly jumped into action and ran up the creaky wooden stairs and tried my luck with the door. The door swung open as I turned the knob. I was immediately greeted with the sounds of loud crying.

"Get out here!" a man yelled menacingly in the back of the house.

I followed the voice to what I believed to be the bedroom and saw the back of a man looking into the closet, a woman whom I assume to be Kristen lying on the bed with a fresh bullet hole in her forehead, a little girl with big poofy pigtails who looked to be about five years old huddled in the closet holding onto an little crying boy who looked about two.

The man grabbed the little girl roughly and smacked her across the face several times. "STOP CRYING!" he demanded, angrily.

He then aimed the gun at the little boy and pulled the trigger. My heart bout leapt out of my chest as I fully charged at him with my baton flicked out and whacked the man hard in the back of his knee bringing him to his feet.

Heat immediately rose through my body when I saw the poor little battered girl's face and the crying baby on the floor. Thank God for his poor aim.

"Bitch, who the fuck are you?" he shouted falling forward on his knees.

"Someone you don't want to mess with," I grit out kicking him with all my strength into the stomach and sent him crashing into the dresser drawers and kicked the gun out of his reach as I turned to grab for the kids.

"Come on, kids, let's go!" I waved at them to hurry out the door as I retracted the baton and shoved it back into my bag. I swept the little boy up off the floor and bundled him into my arms and quickly pushed the little girl towards the front door.

The little girl tripped and fell forward hard scraping her knees. She glanced behind her probably to see if her daddy was coming after us.

I grabbed her arm and lifted her back up to her feet and spun her back towards the door, "Don't look back, sweetheart. Just keep running. Run to the blue car."

"Fucking bitch!" I heard Kit mutter knowing that he was starting to regain his balance and come after us.

I pushed the little girl along faster and ran down the stairs. "Get in the car!" I shouted at her urgently as I reached the passenger side door and yanked it open.

With Kit cursing up a storm, yelling obscenities behind me, my heart was racing a million miles a minute. The little girl sat frozen in the leather seats. I knew she was terrified because I certainly was!

"You're being such a brave girl," I told her calmly. "Let's be safe though and buckle you and your brother, ok?"

She nodded her head slowly. I deposited the baby into her tiny arms. I quickly reached over and buckled them in.

I felt a bullet ricochet off the side of the door as I finished buckling them in, I dodged a flying bullet and scrambled to the drivers' side.

"Keep your heads down for me, ok?" I said with a slight firmness but tried to keep my voice calm and steady as not to frighten the children more. The boy started crying and the little girl's lips began to quiver.

"It's going to be ok," I tried smiling to reassure them. "I'm going to bring you to a safe place. You're both being so brave."

Thank God I was driving a Les' car which he knowingly customized for bulletproof glass.

I sped off towards Haywood. I was driving down the street like a mad woman breaking all kinds of traffic laws in the process even though I knew he wasn't following us. But it was always better to be safe than sorry.

My adrenaline was pumping and for some reason my body ached like it was burning up. But I tried not to focus on my problems and kept my focus on getting these kids to safety. It was my top priority I reminded myself as I could see her little cheek starting to swell up.

"What's your name, sweetheart," I asked, trying to keep my voice gently and soothing.

"Mia," she said quietly, "and this is my brother Michael."

"My name's Alyssa. We're going to meet some people that are going to help us, ok?"

I saw her pig tails bob up and down from the rearview mirror.

"How are you feeling? Does it hurt?"

"A little but I'm ok," she tried saying bravely. "Is my mommy going to be ok?" her voice cracked slightly.

"Oh, sweetheart, your mommy is resting now in a better place," I replied as I could feel my heart breaking for the two kids.

"My daddy's a bad man," her tiny hands swiped at the tears in her eyes. She turned to her wailing brother who was sadly flopping around in the back seat. She propped him back up and held his hand, "It's ok, Mikey, I'll take care of you like mommy does now."

I turned my focus back on the road to keep us from getting into another bad situation and also because I honestly didn't know how to respond to her. I had to agree. Her father was a terrible man.

I dialed out on the Bluetooth and I turned onto Haywood.

"Control Room," Hal's voice came over the stereo speakers.

"Open the garage gates, Hal, and have Bobby meet me at the garage!" I said urgently.

"Affirmative," he responded quickly as I made a sharp turn abruptly into the Rangeman parking deck.

I put the car into park and jumped out grabbing the kids. Bobby and Cal met me at the door and Mia immediately started screaming as she quickly ran behind me and clutched her tiny hands into the back of my jacket.

I reached around and held her to me, "Mia, it's ok. These men are going to help us."

"He has a scary monster on his head," she cried into my side.

"Yes, but he's very nice. He's my friend and I trust him. You can trust him too, ok?" I tried reassuring her.

She sniffled and stepped from behind my legs and walked over to Cal's open arms and let him scoop her up into his arms gently. We took the elevator up to the Bobby's infirmary. Michael was breathing heavily in my arms, passed out from the exhaustion of crying so hard.

The elevator doors opened and we were immediately greeted by Binkie and Ram.

"What happened?" Binkie asked, concerned filled his eyes the moment we stepped off the elevator.

"I'm ok. We need to take care of the kids first," I reassured him quickly and carefully handed off Michael to Bobby.

Mia turned to look at me terrified.

"It's ok, sweetheart. They're just going to take a look at you and make sure you're ok. Bobby is like a doctor. If you're a good girl, he'll give you a lollipop, ok?" I smiled at her.

She nodded her head trying to bravely keep the tears from falling from her tiny eyes.

"Ram, call the TPD and have them send a squad and emergency vehicle to 8597 Cherry Wood Avenue. Tell them that Kit Johnson murdered his wife and attempted to kill his two kids. is on the run, armed and dangerous."

Ram gave me a firm head nod and turned away to make the call.

"Report!" Tank joined us in the hall and demanded.

"I went to go look for my skip, Kit Johnson, charged with domestic abuse. I went to talk to his wife to see if she would know his whereabouts and when I approached I heard gunshots and crying from inside. So I ran in and found his wife with a bullet to the head. He then became physical with the two kids so my first priority was to get them to safety. I'm sorry if I've caused problems, Tank, but this was the first safe place that popped in my head to take them."

"You did the right thing, Little Girl. You need to go have Bobby check you out as well. You're pale."

"I'm fine, really," I objected.

"That's not a request. That's an order," he turned and walked back into his office.

Binkie pulled me into his arms and embraced, "Thank God you're ok."

I hugged him back. "I'm ok, Binkie. Just a little tired and cold for some reason," I said confused as I pulled away from him.

When he stepped back, my eyes grew wide in shock.

"Binkie, you're bleeding!" I exclaimed at the sight of blood on his arm.

"That's not my blood," he exclaimed immediately and placed his hand on my side. "You're bleeding, Alyssa."

I looked down at his bloodied hand next to my side. "Oh, I suppose I've been shot," I responded confused and a cold chill rushed up my spine. Allowing myself to close my eyes, exhaustion swept over me as I collapsed into Binkie's arms.


	6. Chapter 6

_**A/N:**_ _Not a particularly exciting chapter but we'll get a walk down memory lane if you've read my previous stories._

 _ **Previous Chapter:**_ _"Binkie, you're bleeding!" I exclaimed at the sight of blood on his arm._

" _That's not my blood," he exclaimed immediately and placed his hand on my side. "You're bleeding, Alyssa."_

 _I looked down at his bloodied hand next to my side. "Oh, I suppose I've been shot," I responded confused and a cold chill rushed up my spine. Allowing myself to close my eyes, exhaustion swept over me as I collapsed into Binkie's arms._

* * *

 **Chapter 6**

I want to say that I'm a virgin to domestic abuse but growing up in different foster homes, I feel like I've seen it all. And the sad part about it is growing up you feel like you're alone with no one to run to and you quickly learn that other people never want to get involved with your problems. Too young to take matters into your own hands or those who have the power to do something about it don't always listen or take you seriously.

I've encountered numerous times when a fight has gotten so out of hand that nobody has ever bothered to call the police or stopped to help. But you can't completely blame them either. Sometimes the cops are completely immune to the workings of domestic abuse as well when you witness coming back to the same residence over and over again only for the victim to deny any claims of abuse and continue to stay and take it.

It's a sad world but it's reality and it's even more heartbreaking when children get caught up in it all. But in my opinion, it should never stop a person from trying to do the right thing and to help make things right. Yes, I could've turned and ran in the opposite direction of that house instead of running straight into harm's way and just called the police. But if I had, those kids would either have disappeared with Kit never to be seen again or worse killed by their own father.

I blinked a few times and sat up too quickly as the pain shot through my side and my head was spinning.

"Whoa there…take it easy," Bobby replied, placing his hands around my arms and gently lowered me back down onto my pillow.

"The kids?" I rasped out, as he brought a straw to my mouth and I drank the liquid greedily.

"They're fine…just a few minor cuts and bruises. They're with Ella and Luis in their apartment having cookies."

"Thank you," I smiled at him.

"You keep losing blood like that, you won't have any left in your body," he joked. "Luckily the bullet just grazed you."

I nodded my head and waited for him to give me the rest of the update.

He continued, "The authorities were notified. They found Kristen Johnson's body in her home. The ME reported that she died instantly from a bullet to the head. The TPD has a search team out looking for Kit. Child Services is working on locating next of kin for the kids."

"Thanks again, Bobby. You're a gem."

"The kids have been asking to see you. So, Ella's bringing them up to you in a few minutes."

"Beautiful, what is with you and little munchkins?" Les exclaimed as he walked into the room.

"Kids are easier to deal with than adults, Les," I smiled at him with my arms open to receive a hug. "I'm so sorry about your car. I know how much you loved it."

He waved me off and chuckled, "I knew the risk of lending it to you."

I playfully swatted his arm, "Help me up so I can stretch my legs."

He helped me out of bed and helped steady me as I paced around the room dragging my IV drip around and worked out the kinks in my joints when I heard a shrill scream.

"I DON'T WANT TO GO!" I heard Mia scream out.

I immediately tore out the IV needle from my arm…not a pleasant feeling so I wouldn't recommend it…and ran out the door.

"Alyssa!" Mia cried out, pulling her tiny hand out of the grasp of a woman wearing a boxy gray skirt suit and ran towards me and clung to my good side.

"What's going on here?" I asked the woman who was holding a wailing Michael.

I walked towards her and pried him out of her grasp and tried soothing him by stroking his back.

"Ms. Chau, I presume," the woman asked behind her gold wire-framed glasses.

"Yes, that would be me."

"My name is Jackie Beaumont. I'm the Case Worker from child protective services assigned to the Johnson children. I'm here to take the children to a safe place until their Aunt and Uncle can come and retrieve them."

"Retrieve them? They're not objects or a package," I grit out angrily. "Why can't they stay with me until they get here?"

"They're in a remote area in South Sudan with very little contact doing some sort of doctors without borders program. Until we can locate them, the children will be placed in temporary housing. It will only be a few days"

"Then they can stay with me as temporary housing," I replied defiantly.

"Ms. Chau, what do you know of caring for children? I imagine that you're a single working female who most likely lives in a one bedroom apartment — definitely not suitable for 2 young children."

"You're not taking these kids!" I shouted, choosing to ignore the jab of her assumption that I was a sad lonely single female. "They've been through something traumatic and putting them in the system only makes it worse for them. They trust me and feel comfortable with me. They need to be in a trusting and nurturing environment after the experience they just went through."

"The system was created for these types of situations, Ms. Chau. I assure you, the children will be fine. And they will need to be protected from the fugitive that has yet to be captured."

"And I assure you, Ms. Beaumont, as someone who's been put through the system after losing a parent. It is not. They stay with me."

"I can't let that happen—"

"—With all due respect, Ms. Beaumont. You'll have to take these kids over my dead body," I threatened.

"Ms. Chau, I assure you that the children will be safe," the mousy woman said adjusting her glasses.

"Really? Do you plan on keeping them together?" I challenged.

Often the social services try to keep siblings together but reality is that most of them are split up into different homes. I've had my fair share of understanding how the system works. It works well for some but not always for others.

When my parents passed away, I was picked up by the police and taking to the precinct where I waited for hours for a social services case worker to show up and was immediately dumped into a foster home.

Being that I was an older orphan at the age of eleven, finding a loving family to adopt an older child was slim to none. Some foster homes were more loving and supportive than others.

"I will try my hardest, Ms. Chau, to keep the children together," she cleared her throat, not convincing me the slightest.

"I stand firm. Release the children into my custody. I will provide for them. I'm not going to let them out of my sight."

"Ms. Chau, I know you mean well but—"

"Enough," Tank interjected. "Rangeman will be responsible for the children, Ms. Beaumont. The children can be under 24 hour surveillance in this secured building. We have apartments within the building and an on-staff caretaker who will cook and clean for the children until the children's new guardians arrive."

"This is against standard procedure," she said hesitantly.

"Call Chief Juniak at the TPD," I instructed her. "He'll vouch for Rangeman's reputation."

She nodded her head and stepped away from us to make a phone call.

I knelt down to Mia with Michael in my arms. "It's going to be ok," I wiped away her tears.

"I want to stay here with you," she sniffled.

"I'm going to try my hardest to make sure that happens, all right?"

She nodded and put her arms around my neck. "I don't want to go home to my daddy."

"That's not going to happen," I said firmly holding onto her.

The social worker came back towards us. "My supervisor has given the ok to allow the children to stay here under the supervision of Ms. Chau and Rangeman under the understanding that Rangeman is responsible for anything that may occur. I just need to you to take care of some paperwork."

"That will not be a problem, Ms. Beaumont. We can take care of that," Tank's loud commanding voice boomed. "Little girl, you can take the children to seven and settle them there."

I frowned at him, "Are you sure that's ok?" I can't really imagine Ranger being ok with me and two kids taking over his living space.

"It's fine. We don't expect him to come back any time soon."

"Ok," I replied hesitantly but pivoted my heel and headed towards the elevator. "Les, you coming?" I called back behind me.

"Right behind you, beautiful."

We took the elevator up to seven and I used the key fob Ranger gave to me over Christmas to get into his apartment. The place was like a time capsule. It looked exactly as I had remembered it but I haven't stepped foot in here since the after the incident with Deuces. The minute I learned that Ranger had disappeared into the wind, I picked myself up and left never stepping foot back in here until now.

"Is this a fancy hotel?" Mia asked in awe.

I chuckled, "I suppose you could think of it that way."

"Ella's going to bring up some movies and dinner," Les called out from the kitchen.

"Perfect," I smiled, falling into the plush leather couch with Michael in my arms.

After a few hours of watching Pixar films. I tucked the kids into bed and Les tucked me in next to them.

"If you need anything, you know where to find me," Les patted my head.

"Thanks, Les."

Ella was magical. Within a matter of hours, she had thought of everything from clothes, toys to a detachable railing of the side of the bed so that the kids couldn't roll off in their sleep.

 _ **^o^ * ^o^**_

Ella played babysitter while I was out working. The guys have been great, in making the kids feel comfortable and welcomed. In fact, Cal, the man with the scary tattoo on his head, became Mia's favorite Merry Man because he let her ride on his shoulders around the office. She said his tattoo wasn't that scary because if you squinted it looked like an angel.

I was healing up quite nicely and Tank has required me to bring a partner on all of my runs. Which was fine by me, I wasn't really much up to running after skips at the moment. And it was nice to have someone take over the physical aspect for a while.

"The TPD has located the children's aunt and uncle. A local official is assisting with their return," Vince reported to the group during our weekly Monday morning staff meeting.

"Have they closed in on Kit?" Binkie spoke up.

"There's still no new information coming from the TPD and we have our own men on the streets searching for him as well," Ram reported. "He's most likely has a friend helping him."

"Or he's no longer in town," Binkie grit out.

"We'll find him," Ram assured him. "Nobody shoots one of our own and gets away with it."

"You guys should be focused on finding him so that the kids remain safe, not because he shot me. And let's be honest, he only grazed me."

"That's enough to get a bullet to the head," Les replied.

"Ok enough," Tank took back control of the room. "If there's nothing new to report, everyone is dismissed."

We all stood up and began filing out of the conference room.

"Alyssa," Bobby said catching up to me. "I stopped to pick up your mail at your apartment. Thought you'd like to have it," he said handing me a bundle of mail.

"Thanks, Bobby, but it's only been 2 days," I teased him.

"Could've fooled me. It looked like weeks' worth of mail," he chuckled.

Ok…fine, maybe I'm really negligent at checking my mailbox.

 _ **^o^ * ^o^**_

Grabbing my pile of mail and plopped down on the couch next to Les.

"Thanks for coming over and helping with the kids. I think it's important to help them keep their mind off of what a fucked up whirlwind life has given them."

"They're really good kids. You're going to make a great mom someday."

I scrunched my nose, "I seriously doubt that. Everyone here has been helping me out. I don't think I could've managed on my own."

My thoughts floated to my browning fern sitting in the window sill of my bedroom back at my apartment. I can't even keep an easy to care for fern alive.

"You know when to ask for help and allow for it, so that makes a perfect mom. You shouldn't be expected to do it on your own anyways."

I shrugged him off before any tears could threaten to start brimming my eyes and began sorting through my mail. I pulled out a padded yellow envelope that was unmarked. Carefully opening it, I peered inside and couldn't make out the contents so I poured it out on the coffee table.

"What is that?" Les asked curiously.

"I don't know," I replied, picking up a pen and poked at the colorful pieces of plastic pellets. "Maybe it was delivered to the wrong address?"

"You said Bobby picked up your mail?"

I nodded.

"Bobby," Les spoke into his phone, "where did you find that padded envelop at Alyssa's apartment?"

He paused for a few seconds nodding his head in the process. He said, "Thanks," into the receiver and clicked off.

"Bobby said he found it stuffed between your doorknob and the frame. He scanned the contents with the xray machine to make sure that it was safe before handing it to you."

"Well, it's doesn't seem dangerous but I don't know what it is or who would send them to me," I pulled down the edge of my sleeve and picked up one of the pieces with my sweatshirt to inspect it closely. "Holy fuck," I breathed out.

"What?" Binkie quickly became more attentive.

"They're acrylic nails, but not just acrylic nails — they're only pinkie ones. Vince was right."

"Vince was right about what?"

I turned to him and gulped, "Vince thinks that everything that's been going on seems too much like a coincident with all the dead animals randomly showing up and the dead flowers, flowers with spider eggs. He thinks I have a stalker and after the rat incident."

"How long has been going on?"

"A couple of months from what I can recall it happening…maybe as far back as the box of roach infested chocolates you found at my door before the whole Deuce incident…It was all so subtle that I just didn't think much of it."

"Do you know of anybody that would be out to get you?"

"No, that's the thing. Everything's been pretty quiet up until now with Kit but I didn't even know of Kit Johnson until a few days ago when he was handed to me as an FTA. Everything's been pretty quiet."

"It could be a random obsession. Someone who's read about the incident with you and Pinkie in the news and has developed an unhealthy obsession with you."

Pinky Lupinski was one of my first skips when I first started off as a FTA and he was as dangerous as they come. He was working for Wesley Stranton of _Stranton Construction_. Pinky was Stranton's hired man but began taking matters into his own hands to protect his employer from his own indiscretions with the female variety and began "cleaning" up his messes by offing the women and burying them in the construction sites.

He was my first brush with death in my new line of work and the blossoming of my relationship with Ranger. Anyways, Pinky was now swimming with the fishes but not by my hand, but by the hand of his employer, Wesley Stranton. In the end, Pinky and Stranton's wife were having an affair and they were in cahoots to off her beloved husband and take his fortune.

My mind wandered back to the earlier days of Ranger taking me under his wing and trained me out of pure entrainment and boredom. It was hard not to be affected by a man like Ranger. His presence alone would man any woman and probably man drop all of their defenses. The electricity I felt every time he was around. I was the annoying thorn in his side but he practiced so much patience with me. I'm not saying Ranger doesn't still have the patience with me but our relationship is different now. So much has happened and he's not the same anymore. Even if we weren't going to ever be lovers, Ranger was my best friend. He always had confidence in me, he was always there for me. And now he's in the wind and not speaking to me. I don't know what to think of him anymore.

"I suppose you could be right…"I replied sheepishly.

"Why didn't you say anything to me after Vince brought up the idea of you having a stalker?"

"Because I forgot about it. After he got rid of the dead rat at my door, I just went back into my normal routine and it slipped my mind. Oh yeah and this," I pulled out my phone and handed it to him with the message open.

"That's an obvious death threat!" he balked at the message I received saying I should be dead like the rat.

"I know. I was going to mention it to Tank but then the whole murder thing got in the way…actually two murders! I've been witness to 2 murders in under a month," realization sunk in how death just follows me.

Les grabbed the envelop and swept the contents back into it. "I'm going to have it dusted for prints and have Hector see if he can run a trace on where the text came from. I don't think it's safe for you to go out again until we get more information."

"No, you can't keep me confined," I grit out at him, hating him for the moment for even trying to suggest such a thing to me. "It's been harmless so far."

"But you don't know when this person is going to start escalating into dangerous territory, Beautiful. You've been run off the road and shot all within a week!"

"I don't care. I can handle myself. I don't need a babysitter. When the time comes, I'll deal with it. But for now it's been harmless 'gifts' being left for me."

"Ok, beautiful. You know I would never force anything upon you but it doesn't mean that I like it," he said begrudgingly as he shut the door behind him.

Tank called up shortly after Les left to let me know that the kids' relatives were inbound for Trenton to pick up the kids. I cleaned up around the living area, and flipped off all the lights before heading to the bedroom. I looked at the large bed swallowing the tiny kids sprawled out. I smiled down at them as I rearranged them carefully and tucked them back under the covers.

Flipping off all the lights, I went to the bathroom and cleaned up before heading to bed. Being in Ranger's space was really difficult for me. It took a while for me to come to terms that his feelings for me were not the same as my feelings for him. Although he had once told me that I was always welcome in his space, I could never bring myself to be here.

Everything was him. His scent was everywhere. The feelings I had for him rushed in and took over my body every time I stepped foot into the room. His essence lived here and I couldn't escape it. But for the kids' well-being, I had to set aside my selfish feelings and needs to learn to cope with being reminded of him.

I maneuvered around the bed carefully trying to adjust my eyes to the dark, sidling down in next to Mia, she stirred slightly and called out, "Auntie Alyssa?"

I pulled her into my arms and snuggled up against her. "Yes, ladybug?"

"Are you going to be our new mommy?"

My heart skipped a beat. "I'm afraid not, sweetheart. You're going to go home with your Aunt Christine and Uncle Brad tomorrow."

"Oh," she paused. "I like them. They have a pretty house and always give cool presents."

I smiled and kissed her head.

"But I like you too," she yawned and I felt her head grow heavy and droop.

"I like you too, ladybug," I closed my eyes and the tears began falling.


	7. Chapter 7

_**A/N:**_ _Wow, this has been a long exhausting week for me! So excited that it's Friday! I hope everyone has some fun plans in store for them this weekend. :) Hope you enjoy this chapter. This chapter made my heart yo yo._

 _ **Previous Chapter:**_ _"Are you going to be our new mommy?"_

 _My heart skipped a beat. "I'm afraid not, sweetheart. You're going to go home with your Aunt Christine and Uncle Brad tomorrow."_

" _Oh," she paused. "I like them. They have a pretty house and always give cool presents."_

 _I smiled and kissed her head._

" _But I like you too," she yawned and I felt her head grow heavy and droop._

" _I like you too, ladybug," I closed my eyes and the tears began falling._

* * *

 **Chapter 7**

My mind was flooded with the thoughts of "what ifs." What if I I was smarter and kept myself prepared for something bad to happen with Deuce since I felt it in my gut. What if I had been smarter about letting someone know that I was going off duty to catch a FTA with Deuce would they have found me instead of me being held captive for weeks? What if I didn't lose the Ranger and my child. My heart swelled up at the thought of our unborn child.

Would it have been a little girl, so sweet and innocent like Mia? I couldn't help but think of the sweet little girl that could've been. Would she have been a daddy's little girl? Or would she have been a little hellion making all of the boys quiver at her feet. I smiled to myself thinking of her having all of the Merry Men eating out of the palm of her hands. Or would we have had a little boy who admired his daddy so much he tried to do whatever it took to make him proud? A mini Ranger who caused his mother multiple heart attacks on a regular basis?

I never gave much thought to having kids of my own until I was faced with the loss of my own. And now the possibility of even having one could be complicated from the damage done.

I squeezed the tears from my eyes and turned away from Mia and let the sobs roll out silently. I cried for the loss of my child. I cried for the possibility of no children in my future. I cried for the kid's loss of their mother and essentially the loss of both their parents since their father will most likely not be a part of their lives again.

"Babe," a voice came from the shadows and wiped the tears from my stained cheek.

"Ranger," I grabbed the hand and held it to my trembling face unsure if it was a dream or not.

He reached over and lifted me into his arms bridal style and quietly left the room, shutting the door behind him. He then settled me down onto the couch and took a seat next to me.

I swiped at my face and tried to regain my composure as best as I could. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize you were coming back. I know this is the last thing you expected to come home to see. Tank told me it was ok and that you weren't expected to be home any time soon."

He didn't respond. We were still sitting in the dark but I could make out the outline of his large frame and rise and fall of his immaculate chest. I wanted to throw my arms around him and not let go.

"It's ok," he finally spoke up.

"It's only for tonight anyways. Their guardians will be arriving in the morning."

 _Silence._

"Where have you been?" I worked up the courage to ask.

"Classified."

"Oh," I replied knowingly. "I can wake the kids and we can go down to Manny's. I'm pretty sure he's bunking at his girlfriend's place tonight," I started to get up.

He reached out and placed his hand on my arm and guided me back down to the couch. "Let them sleep."

"Thank you."

Ranger's inability to hold a conversation usually infuriates me. And this was no different except my irritation was mostly replaced with discomfort. I haven't seen the man in half a year and now I don't know how to act towards him.

"What's on your mind," he cut through the silence.

"Nothing. I'm just concerned for the kids."

"Liar."

I clamped my mouth shut and thought better than to start arguing back. My lips began to quiver unable to respond to him. Truthfully, what would I say to him? I'm sorry, I was sad because I lost a child I didn't know we had? He pulled me into his arms and stroked my hair.

"You would've made an incredible mother," he whispered to me sadly.

With that I lost control and cried uncontrollably in his arms. Ranger was back. But was he here to fix things or will he be moving on again?

 _ **^o^ * ^o^**_

I felt something cold and wet swat my face that startled me awake. I opened my eyes and turned my head to see a beautiful baby boy sitting next to me happily eating his tiny fingers and every now and them waving them around happily inadvertently smacking me in the face.

"Who's he? Is he your husband?" Mia asked sitting on top of a mountain we sometimes refer to as Ranger.

My heart swelled at the thought of Ranger being my husband. "No, he's a friend. His name is Ranger. This is his home and his company," I answered sitting up and cradling Michael in my arms.

"Oh. How come we haven't seen him before?"

"Because he was away on business and just came home last night," I smiled watching Rangers just softy rise up and down as he slept peacefully on the couch. I was now able to see just how much wear and tear he accumulated during his time in the wind under the morning light. He looked rough like he'd seen better days with exhaustion set around his eyes.

"Oh. How come you're sleeping with him when he's not your husband? Mommy says a girl should never sleep with a boy unless it's your brother, daddy or your husband," she spoke as if her words were straight facts.

"Uh…" Great…this kid thinks I'm living in sin. I apparently fell asleep on the couch last night after a good cry and this was my first time having a good look at Ranger since he came back.

"He's big but not as big as Uncle Tank. Uncle Tank is a GIANT!" she stretched her arms out in case I wasn't sure how big Tank was. Thank god for kids and their short attention spans. "He has stuff on his face too," she said poking her little finger at Ranger's newly grown beard.

"You probably shouldn't do that, ladybug. He's known to be quite grumpy."

"He reminds me of a not very fun Uncle Lester," she pondered looking closer at his face.

I busted out laughing. I've always thought that Les and Ranger had some strong resembling features. They had the same jawline and they both get the same crinkle in their eyes when they laugh. Although Ranger's crinkle was rarely present as the man tends to display no emotions.

They were cousins after all. But they were definitely night and day where Ranger was all dark and mysterious. Les had dirty blond hair and brilliant green eyes that danced when he smiled and had no problems displaying his emotions. "Ranger is Uncle Les' cousin."

"Oh." She leaned over and placed a hand on each side of his face and stretched his lips out to a smile. "This looks better."

I giggled, "I agree!"

Ranger's eyes flew open and Mia retracted her hands back screaming. Ranger grabbed her tiny body and lifted it in the air as he sat up.

"You think I look better smiling huh?" Ranger asked Mia in a gravely serious voice.

She sat quietly blinking back at him and gave him a slow nod.

"I think you look better when you're smiling too," he grinned and began tickling her.

She shrieked with joy.

He turned and looked at me with a spark in his eye, "Grumpy?"

I shrugged my shoulders, "98.5 percent of the time."

He stuck his left hand out and began tickling my side making me fall over in unresolved laughter. He attacked all of us with unwavering tickles when a voice broke through the laughter.

"Oh my. It seems like we're all starting off the day with a nice start this morning," Ella beamed at the scene before her.

"Ella!" Mia jumped up and bounded towards her throwing her arms around her waist.

"Would you like to help me make chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast?" she asked patting her head.

"Yes, please!" she jumped up and down. "I'm going to make Auntie Alyssa and Uncle Rango breakfast too!" she grabbed her hand and pulled her out the room.

I chuckled at her mispronunciation of Ranger's name. He gave me a pointed look that was hard to take seriously when he was bouncing Michael on his knee.

Is this the domestic bliss I would've looked forward to if I had not lost Ranger's baby?

 _ **^o^ * ^o^**_

"Thank you so much for watching out for Mia and Michael," Christine Powell replied grasping my hand.

"It was my pleasure, Mrs. Powell. They are really great kids."

"We can't thank you enough," her husband spoke up. "You saved their lives. It's a tragedy what they had to witness. I knew Kit was bad news but I wasn't present enough to keep my sister and the kids safe," he said sadly.

"It's not your fault, Mr. Powell," I tried reassuring him, and then looked through the glass window where the two kids were thoroughly enjoying some sort of card trick Carl was showing them.

"Please call us Christine and Brad," Christine spoke up.

"Where will you be going?"

"Boston," Christine answered. "We have a direct flight taking off in about four hours. We're anxious to get the kids settled in so they can start resuming some sort of normalcy."

I nodded in agreement.

"I hope they catch that bastard soon," Brad grit out. "I'd like to get my hands on him first if I had the opportunity."

"I assure you, the TPD is made up the best and they'll track him down," I responded.

We all walked into the room with Carl. Christine and Brad greeted the kids with a warm embrace.

"You ready to go, kiddos?" Brad asked.

Mia nodded her head excitedly in Brad's arms; Mikey seemed more preoccupied with the candy bar in his hands.

"Auntie Alyssa, are you coming with us?" Mia asked.

"I'm afraid not, ladybug. I live here but you'll have so much fun. I hear you even get to have your own room," I pinched her cheek.

Her lower lip quivered, "But I want you to go with us."

I bit back the tears threatening to retreat from my eyes and gave her a big encouraging smile, "I'll come visit you. I promise."

"Ok," she sniffed back. "And Uncle Rango, Lester, Bobby, Cal and Tank too."

I smiled at her warmly, "I'm sure they would love to see you munchkins. But you can call me any time and we can talk, ok?"

"Ok," her eyes lit up a little.

I gave the kids one last hug goodbye and Mikey gave me a nice chocolate handprint on my blue t-shirt. I waved the off and watched them drive away.

"You did a really incredible thing, Bomber," Binkie said coming to my side and laying a hand on my shoulder.

"It was the right thing to do."

 _ **^o^ * ^o^**_

As I was pulling out of the Rangeman garage shortly after the Powells left, a blue Corolla zipped past me. I caught a glimpse of the driver and familiarity sank in on me. The driver looked just like Kit Johnson!

I accelerated after him trying to see where he was headed off to and it dawned on me. He was heading in the direction of the airport. He was on a mission to get to his kids.

I picked up the speed and spotted The Powell's white SUV rental a couple of blocks up and the blue Corolla hot catching up. Kit hung out his window and aimed and fired off a few rounds and took out their back windshield cause them to swerve right and crash into line of newspaper boxes.

I sped up and rear-ended the Corolla pinning Kit in between me and a telephone pole. He jilted forward and lost the grip on his gun and dropped it out the side of his window. The airbags deployed sending me into a confused daze for a few seconds.

 _Beep. Beep._

" _This is the Control Room, we have been notified that your vehicle has been in a front-end collision," Vince's voice came over the speakers._

"Vince, Kit Johnson is going after the kids. Call the police and send back up." I shook the cobwebs from my head when I heard the sound of a car door opening and slamming shut. Pushing the airbags out of my way, I quickly exited the vehicle and saw Kit retrieving his gun.

The driver side door of the SUV opened.

I shouted urgently at the Powells, "STAY IN THE CAR!"

Kit pulled the trigger and hit the side of the door as the door slammed shut and Brad retreated back inside.

"The police are on their way, Kit. You should make this easier on yourself by putting the gun down and turning yourself in."

"Do you think I'm stupid? I killed my dumb slut of a wife. The kids have to go too!" he pointed the gun at me and emptied his clip somehow all of they all managed to miss me. He was a really sucky shot which made me feel better at my lack of gun skills.

He then threw the gun on the ground and charged at me. I had my baton out and ready and took a swing at his side but missed. He grabbed my wrist and yanked me forward, ramming his elbow into my face. I flew backwards and landed hard on the pavement as the wind got knocked out of me.

I attempted to sit up but was knocked back down by a swift kick in the side where it was still slightly tender from my previous wound. He stalked off and headed towards the white SUV. He yanked the door open and pulled Christine out, throwing her to the ground. Brad got out of the car and tried to stop Kit from pulling the kids out but was greeted with a fist to the face.

Pulling myself up off the ground, I ignored the searing pain my lower back and went into full rhino mode when I saw him pull Mia out kicking and screaming. I swiped the baton off the pavement and sprinted towards Kit.

"LET HER GO!" I shouted.

He had her by the tiny neck with an animalistic gleam in his eyes that made him seem inhuman. I leapt into the air and swung the baton down hard onto this forearm causing him to release his grip on Mia. Her little body crumpled to the ground.

He backhanded me across the face. I teetered left but regained my balance and gave him a hard jab into his side and then a hard push knocking him off of his feet. I straddled him and punched him square in the nose.

I felt the fleet of black SUVs approaching me before I even saw them as I wrapped my hands around Kit's throat and began to squeeze. Blood was gushing out of his nose as he tried to pry my death grip from his throat.

"Release him!" Tank barked.

I ignored him and continued to watch Kit's face turn a hideous shade of red.

"That's an order!" Tank commanded once again before Ranger walked up and tore me from Kit, lifting me to my feet.

I tried shrugging him off and went for Kit's tried to get in another punch but was held back by Ranger's weight.

"Babe!" he growled.

I continued to struggle against him only seeing saw red as I kept trying to swat at Kit.

"The bitch is fucking crazy! She tried to kill me," Kit grunted as Les and Bobby pulled him to his feet.

"He tried to kill his own kids!" I screamed like a banshee as Tank yanked Kit to his feet. "He shouldn't be allowed to breath!"

"Detain him," Tank ordered Vince and turned to Bobby. "Make sure everyone else is ok."

Bobby nodded and made a move for the kids as Ranger walked me away towards the sidewalk.

"Calm down," he ordered placing me back down on the ground.

I glared at him but snapped out of it when he gave me a hard shake.

"Babe, I understand the situation makes you angry. Acting irrational and reckless doesn't solve anything."

My heart rate slowed down a few beats and I lowered my gaze. "I know. I'm sorry."

"Control your temper," he said loosening his grip. "You could've killed him in front of a lot of witnesses. In broad daylight."

"I wanted to kill him," I said shamefully, realizing how in the heat of the moment, how much I didn't care if I had taken a life in my own hands.

"You know how this could look for Rangeman? You're wearing a Rangeman uniform," he pointed out my uniform.

The heat rose back up in my face. "I'm so sorry that I've made you look bad. What are you going to do to me?" I spat out at him.

"I'll figure it out later, but for now, you need to go wait in one of the vehicles."

I stood my ground and glared back at him. The man that I once called my friend. The man that I used to make my heart beam with pride whenever he'd encourage me. But now I just looked back at a man who didn't seem to hold any regard for me.

"NOW!" he barked at me causing me to stumble backwards.

I grumbled some unintelligent words before stomping off toward the fleet of black SUVs. One pulled up next to me, so I opened the door and slid in. Slamming the door shut, I heard the locks click as I sat back and closed my eyes.

"He can be such a fucking prick sometimes," I muttered and then opened my eyes to turn and see which Merry man was sitting next to me as the car began to pull away from the scene.

But before I could catch who it was, I felt a sharp prick in my neck and before I knew the red faded into black.


	8. Chapter 8

_**A/N:** hmm...Ranger's been off his A-Game lately. Think he'll start blaming himself for sending Alyssa into, yet another, pit of doom? Thanks again for sticking with me and Alyssa's journey!_

 _ **Previous Chapter:**_ _I grumbled some unintelligent words before stomping off toward the fleet of black SUVs. One pulled up next to me, so I opened the door and slid in. Slamming the door shut, I heard the locks click as I sat back and closed my eyes._

" _He can be such a fucking prick sometimes," I muttered and then opened my eyes to turn and see which Merry man was sitting next to me as the car began to pull away from the scene._

 _But before I could catch who it was, I felt a sharp prick in my neck and before I knew the red faded into black._

* * *

 **Chapter 8**

I jolted awake and found my mouth, hands and feet bound. Darkness surrounded me except for the light casting off of the full moon. I shifted from side to side as my limbs met a wall on either side of me. I was lying down on a hard, wooden surface and was about to shout out to the best of my ability when a dark figure loomed over me.

The figure was petite, and then it crouched down and removed its hood letting the moonlight reflect off her pale skin. Yup, you heard it right, my capture was a female.

"Hello, Bombshell Bounty Hunter," she said in an ominous voice.

The woman's face was bony and looked like she'd seen better days.

"You probably don't know who I am," she smirked. "Allow me to give you a hint. You took two men I loved away from me."

I scrunched my nose at her. Unless she was some deranged woman who used to have a serious relationship with Joe, I had no idea who she was and what she was talking about.

"Bitch!" she reached down and grabbed my shirt pulling me up towards her and shouted in my face. "Look at me!"

I shook my head at her trying to apologize for not recognizing her. She let go of me abruptly causing me to fall back and hit my head slightly.

"Of course you don't recognize me," she stood up and paced. "I used to have everything. I used to be beautiful," she waved her hands in the air.

Can we say crazy?

"Then _YOU_ took it all away from me!" she pointed a finger at me accusingly. "First you killed my Pinky," she wept.

Recognition finally dawned on me. It was Janice Cohen, Wesley Stratton's wife and Pinky Lupinsky's lover. My instincts had been right about the stalker having something to do with Pinky. I just never had thought it would've been his former lover.

"Ah so now you recognize me," she smiled. "I loved him, you know? And you had to go and take his life from him."

Well, he kind of deserved it, I thought to myself. He was trying to kill me and he killed several young women before that. But it wasn't me that killed him Stratton was the one that, strangely enough, saved my life and killed Pinky. Little did I know it was to save his own hide.

"Then you took my Wesley!" she screeched.

No I didn't. Stratton was still alive, in prison for a long time, but still alive nonetheless. Several months later, I learned that Stratton was behind a number of illegal activities that was being covered up by his Construction business and he was thrown in the clinker. Pinky and Stratton were not seeing eye-to-eye and Stratton offed Pinky in an attempt to keep him quiet.

But with the help of my best friend Misty and the Merry Men they were able to uncover the truth behind Stratton and he was arrested. As for Janice, the last I heard was that she wasn't coping well and her lavish lifestyle was taken away along with Stratton. Now that I think about it, I thought I heard that she was institutionalized.

"Pinky wasn't enough for you; you had to go and take Wesley too," she began to pace again. "Wes was still good to me even after my infidelity to him. He took care for me…" she trailed off and then went silent for a few minutes.

I worked at the rope around my wrists and tried to loosen them to break free.

"But then you had to go and take him away too!" she boomed as a large heavy object connected with my stomach.

I recoiled and noticed she had smacked me with the underside of a shovel.

"They froze all of his accounts! Took away the house! Took away the cars! Took away everything! I was left with nothing!" she screeched. "I had to lie, cheat and steal everything to get by! You should be grateful to me for your precious gifts! I went through a lot of trouble getting them for you!" she shrieked. "Why do I have to live on the streets and you get to live your life! You deserve to die for the suffering you inflicted on me! You're going to pay for what you did to Pinky!"

I shook my head at her. I wanted to tell her that I would help her. That there's no reason for her to be a crazy lunatic. That we could find a way but instead she produced a long wooden plank and smirked down at me and then it dawned on me. I was inside a wooden casket. She was planning on burying me alive!

"Goodbye, _Bombshell_. Be sure to tell Pinky I love him," she threw the lid down on me shutting out the light.

I frantically worked at my restraints as tears flowed down my eyes in a panic. This had to be one of the cruelest ways to die. I heard the sound of dirt falling onto the lid. I attempted to push the lid up but it wouldn't budge. I continued to beat on the wood and get out of my restraints until I there was nothing but the sound of my sobs being muffled.

Who would've known that the ex-lover of an ex-FTA would turn crazy and blame me for all of her problems. Maybe Joe was right. He knew all along that this job was going to end up killing me and I didn't listen. If I had agreed to marry him then maybe, I wouldn't be here right now. I'd probably be trying on wedding dresses or deciding the menu for our reception.

My stomach grumbled. I cursed it for having bad timing and for selfishly thinking about food at a time like this. I grew tired of screaming for no good reason because no one was around to hear. So I laid back and waited for the inevitable and thought of what my life could've been if I had accepted Joe's proposal.

We probably would've had a beautiful house and I wouldn't have ever met Deuce and lost my baby. But if I had the baby…Joe would've found out that it was Ranger's. Would he have accepted me and the baby or would he have kicked us out on the street?

Ranger would've set us up in a nice home but most likely be an absentee husband as he is with his daughter from a one night stand whom he rarely mentions. I began to sob and bang on the lid in angst. No matter what decision I made in life, it would've ended up with a horrible outcome. Maybe my family was cursed. Maybe only death and sadness was to become of us.

I calmed back down after throwing myself a mini pity party and let my eyes slowly shut. At least one good thing came from this…I could finally be with my family again. I could feel myself suffocating from the lack of oxygen in my coffin.

I hope that everyone that I care about knows how much I love them…Sorry Misty, we never got to take our girl's trip and I never got my Miami fling experience, I thought as I let the darkness take over me.

 _ **^o^ * ^o^**_

Is this how afterlife is supposed to feel like? — Cold? I felt the coldness blanket me and attempted to open my eyes to see where the next life had decided to take me.

I slowly pried my eyes open as the warmth spread from my lips and a tingle shot through my entire body. I coughed weakly and opened my eyes to stare up as the face of an angel lifted his lips from mine.

The moonlight haloed around his head as I gasped out for air. My angel then crushed me to his chest and cradled me as he stroked my back. This wasn't another life. And my angel wasn't an angel…it was Ranger. He was holding onto me like his life depended on it.

I'm pretty sure after death, I wouldn't be feeling pain but I was dizzy and my lungs burned but I managed to croak out, "Ranger?"

"I thought I lost you, Quierda," he said softly into my hair.

"Did I turn into Sleeping Beauty somehow?" I joked before closing my eyes…I was so tired.

 _ **^o^ * ^o^**_

"She's waking up," a tiny voice filled my ears as I blinked my eyes and tried to focus.

I felt a pair of tiny hands grasp mine and squeeze. The first thing I saw was a bob of poofy hair bouncing up and down.

I smiled and softly replied, "Mia."

"Auntie Alyssa!" she cried out enthusiastically and threw her arms around me. "You saved our lives and then the Power Rangers saved your life!"

I started to cough as I laughed at her reference to the Merry Men as the Power Rangers. I guess my referral to them as the Merry Men isn't any better.

Binkie quickly grabbed a cup of water and held the straw up to my dry chapped lips. I loved how incredibly resilient this girl was. Going from losing her mother to her crazed father trying to kill her and still she was able to put a smile on her face. She talked my ear off until it was time for them to say goodbye.

I had my usual rotation of Merry Men come and visit but Binkie stayed by my side not moving in silence the entire time. Finally, when we were alone, I turned my head and looked at him. He looked worn and tired. His brilliant blue eyes were almost a dull gray.

I reached out and stroked his cheek, "What happened?"

He shook his head and held my hand to his lips and kissed it. "It took over an hour for Ranger to even realize that you weren't with us. When we returned to Rangeman and couldn't locate you in the missing Rangeman vehicle but there was no missing vehicle and the control room accounted for every vehicle that returned to the garage bay. Ram said he saw you get in the car and leave the scene. It wasn't until then that we realized that you'd gotten into a vehicle that wasn't one of ours."

"How did you find me then?"

"I placed a tracker on you before you left," he hung his head in shame. "After everything that's happened, Alyssa."

I squeezed his hand to let him know it was ok. After all, he saved my life.

"Wait, did you catch her?" It suddenly dawned on me that they probably didn't know who kidnapped me.

He nodded, "Yeah, Janice Cohen's in police custody. Hector and Ram stopped by your apartment after you were emitted into the hospital to get some clues and found her passed out in your bed. She ate most of your food, took a shower and helped herself to your clothes."

I scrunched my nose and began thinking of all the things I needed to burn after I got home.

He shifted uncomfortably, "Ranger was here earlier. Les got him to leave since he was being disruptive."

I couldn't imagine Ranger being disruptive. He was the essence of calm and controlled but I had no reason to question Binkie. Besides, Ranger's not my problem, right?

"I need to head out in a few minutes. I have a shift starting soon."

I nodded realizing he's probably spent all of his free time in this room with me. "You need to get some rest too," I stroked his cheek.

"I'll start sleeping when you stop giving me reasons to keep me up at night," he smiled and suddenly looked at me seriously grabbing my hand. "Alyssa, I know that Ranger's back and I know this isn't any of my business. I care about you." He gulped back looking nervous which was such a rare expression for a Merry Man. "I want you to be careful." He gave me a kiss milimeters from my lips and lingered his breath against my cheek for a beat.

My heart pumped uncontrollably as I watched him stand up and leave. This day has been way too exciting even for someone like me…


	9. Chapter 9

_**A/N:**_ _I hope I help you enter this weekend with a chapter that leaves you in a "wow" state of mind. Enjoy. Because I surely did._

 _ **Previous Chapter:**_ _"I'll start sleeping when you stop giving me reasons to keep me up at night," [Binkie] smiled and suddenly looked at me seriously grabbing my hand. "Alyssa, I know that Ranger's back and I know this isn't any of my business. I care about you." He gulped back looking nervous which was such a rare expression for a Merry Man. "I want you to be careful." He gave me a kiss milimeters from my lips and lingered his breath against my cheek for a beat._

 _My heart pumped uncontrollably as I watched him stand up and leave. This day has been way too exciting even for someone like me…_

* * *

 **Chapter 9**

It's been about two weeks since I was buried alive. Janice was once again institutionalized hopefully she won't be released any time soon.

The first couple of days, I did my best to avoid Ranger until I was cornered and had nowhere to run at the Bond's Office. He walked in before I could cut loose one afternoon and requested that we talk. Ranger, the man with few words, when he wanted to talk it usually wasn't casual conversation of the weather.

He pulled me down the alley between the bond's office and the vacant building that was once a used bookstore. The moment we were out of view of the main road, he pushed me up against the wall and set my body on fire — I mean not literally. I don't think Ranger would actually really do that.

But he kissed me like his life depended on it and I'd love to say that this man no longer had any effect on me and I was poised enough to keep him from going any further but I'm not a liar.

Luckily, I did have some brain function left in my head and I pushed him back telling him that I couldn't do this after many fleeting moments of deepened kisses. I thought I saw a hint of pain flash across his eyes but it also could have been my imagination. He put his cool demeanor back on, uttered the single word, "babe," and left me standing there in a state of confusion.

When I stepped out of the alley, he was pulling away in his Porsche.

Not a single word was exchanged between us and he disappears out of my life once again.

 _Buzz. Buzz._

"Hey, Mis." I answered.

"What happened," she asked quickly.

"What do you mean?"

"You sound out of breath."

I sighed, "Ranger being Ranger."

"Let's plan our trip," Misty's voice rang over the phone. "You need to get away for a while. So much has been happening."

She was right. A trip could do me some good. "Let's do it."

"Great. Start packing. We'll leave next Friday. I got to go. Love you Aly."

 _Click._

One and a half weeks until I could stretch out on the warm sand surrounded by clear blue water. Miles away from Ranger, Rangeman, exploding cars, crazy stalkers, FTAs. Only one and half weeks, I could survive until then.

 _ **^o^ * ^o^**_

I pulled the Jeep that Bobby lent me into the Rangeman garage. I waved my access card at the box and it kept giving me a the reject beep and the red light kept flashing at me.

"Bomber," Cal's voice came over the intercom.

"My access card isn't working. Can you buzz me in please."

"Yes."

 _Buzz._

The gate lifted and I eased the Jeep down into a free space. I stepped into the elevator and scanned my card against the reader and pressed the 5th floor. Again my card was being rejected and wouldn't let me onto the 5th, so I pressed the lobby.

I got off at the lobby and made my way over to the front desk where Binkie was stationed for the day.

"Hey, Bomber," he gave me a warm smile. "What brings you to visit me here."

I gave him a sheepish smile, "My access card isn't working and I'm going to be late for my shift." I handed him my card.

"Let's see if I can find out what's going on," he begins to punch in a bunch of keys on his keyboard when his phone buzzed. In fact, I noticed that everyone's phone buzzed as other employees were walking through the Lobby.

Binkie's face fell as he looked up at me. The elevator doors dinged and I saw Tank step off of the elevator with a box in his hands.

"Alyssa," he said firmly as he approached me with box in hand. He never calls me by my name…

"Tank, what's going on?" I approached him carefully.

"As of today, you are no longer employed at Rangeman," he said avoiding my eyes.

My mouth dropped open, "Y-you're firing me?!"

"Ranger said that you had wished to end your employment with Rangeman a while back. You haven't been attending your scheduled therapy appointments and have not been officially cleared for field duty. You've broken protocol and Rangeman has made the decision to release you from your services."

I remembered back to my conversation with Ranger when I threatened him to fire me because I no longer wanted to see the shrink but I didn't think he'd take it seriously and why of all times.

"Where is he?" my voice hitched a few octaves. "Why isn't he here to talk to me to my face." I screamed up at the camera in the corner.

"Alyssa," Binkie cautiously placed a hand on my shoulder in attempt to calm me down.

I shrugged his hand away. "Fine. You want to be rid of me?" I said defiantly into the camera knowing very well, if he was here, he was watching. "Don't you dare every come near me, track me or send anyone after me ever again. This is it, Ranger! It's over!"

I attempted to grab the box containing my personal effects from Tank but he held onto it tightly.

"A cab is waiting outside for you. Binkie can help you with your belongings."

"I can take care of my own belongings," I grit back and yanked the box out of his hands harder until he let go.

He stepped closer to me, "Little girl, I didn't have a choice. Please be careful."

I stormed out of the building and threw my stuff into the cab and grabbed my phone.

"He fucking fired me!" I screamed into the phone.

"What?! I'll kill him! Family or not!" Mis belted back at me.

"No, not Vinny. Ranger!"

"What the fuck?! Why the hell would he do that?!"

"I seriously don't know what his problem is, Mis."

"Want me to come over?" she offered.

"No, I think I just want to be alone. I'm just so angry. He runs hot and then cold. I don't know how to deal with him."

"I know, sweetie. I just don't know what to say."

"It's ok, Mis. Thanks for letting me vent," I said as the cab pulled into the parking lot of my apartment.

"Anytime, Aly. Listen, I have a meeting to get to. If you need anything, or change your mind about company. Let me know. Bones and are just going to be chilling at home tonight. So feel free to swing by if you want a change of scenery."

"Thanks, Mis. Have a good meeting."

"Hang in there."

 _Click._

 _ **^o^ * ^o^**_

I swiped a last coat of mascara on and began fastening my strappy stilettos. After a few hours of angry eating and keeping some of the guys from going after Ranger and asking them to give me some time alone. I decided to get off of my ass and let off some steam.

So I pulled on the sexiest dress I owned. A tight strapless black mini dress. I wanted to feel sexy, do a little dancing and feel empowered. I heard a gentle knock on the door and rolled my eyes.

I swear Les doesn't listen sometimes.

I fastened my last earring and pull the door open and was faced with a pure Adonis. I raked my eyes up his perfectly sculpted body hiding behind a pair of fitted blue jeans and a blue t-shirt that looked like it was painted onto his body.

"Wow," he breathed out.

"Binkie," I looked at him questioning his presence at my doorstep but honestly, I was ready to devour this man.

"I-I wanted to check up on you and s-see how you were d-doing. I'm s-sorry, I would've come s-sooner but m-my shift only just ended a f-few m-minutes ago. A-and yeah, h-how you d-doing?" he stuttered rambling on never taking his eyes off me once.

I reached out and grabbed his belt buckle, pulling him into the apartment, slammed the door shut and pushed him up against the door and pressed my entire body into him and met his lips for a hot searing kiss. I was tired of being the prey. I was feeling predatory.

He didn't resist instead his hands snaked around my waist as he pulled me even closer to his perfect body. My hands reached down and began to unbuckle his belt. His hand slid up the length of my back as he began to slowly glide his finger down my zipper.

I came up for air and stepped back for a quick second. His eyes seared into mine and I could see a hint of concern flash in his eyes. My dress was loosely hanging around my chest.

Before he could start apologizing to me, I spoke up, "Binkie."

He swallowed hard with desire and mixed apprehension in his voice, "I—"

"—I need to know your real name before we continue. I can't very well be moaning, 'Binkie.' It doesn't seem right," I smiled at him.

"Brent," he flashed me a brilliant smile. "Brent McAllister."

I grinned back at him, "Ok 007, let's have you start working on saving my world."

"Your wish is my command," he pulled his shirt off and moved in towards me and in a flash he had my dress pooled on the floor at my feet leaving me in only my panties and heels.

 _ **^o^ * ^o^**_

About 30 minutes later, we were both sprawled out on the floor next to the front door.

"Sorry," Binkie panted. "I couldn't hold out any longer."

"Are you kidding me?" I panted and turned on my side to look at him. "I think I would've died if you held out any longer."

He turned towards me and brushed a strand of hair from my face. "That was incredible." He held my gaze for a few beats and worry crept across his eyes. "I'm probably going to have to shoot myself after saying this…" he hesitated searching for the words to say. "What we just did was out of this world and I can't believe how lucky I am to have you want me in that way."

"You're ashamed of doing this with me?" I sat up quickly and tried to cover up some semblance of modesty with my hands.

"Oh hell no!" he sat up and held my face. "Who could ever be ashamed of being with someone like you?" He pulled me in for a warm embrace and then held me out in front of him. "What I'm trying to say—very poorly, I may add—is that I hope you don't feel like I've taken advantage of you given all that you've been through the last few months and with—"

"—don't say his name," I cut him off silencing his lips with my finger. "I don't want to talk about him. I don't want to say his name or hear his name."

"Ok…" he drew out. "What I mean is, I don't know what you two have going on but it's very clear that you have some kind of feelings for him. And I'm more than ok with you using me in whatever means you want, Alyssa. Honestly, fuck me as much as you want, I am willing to make the sacrifice."

I chuckled at his words.

"I just don't want you to get hurt but I don't want you to feel obligated to me either."

'I'm not trying to use you Binkie," I replied guiltily and turned my head away to avert his eyes.

"Don't turn away from me, Alyssa. I know you're not intending to use me. You're not that kind of girl. I just want you to know that you don't owe me anything and I don't expect anything from you."

I nodded, "I appreciate it Binkie. There's no denying that I have a very strong attraction to you. As for what's between me and he who not be named, I don't know what's there or whether there will ever be anything there. I honestly want to move on with my life and today was a wake up call. But I am nervous about word getting out. I don't want anything to happen to you."

He smiled at me, "You let me worry about that."

"You know I don't ever do this kind of stuff," I blushed. And it wasn't a line because it was true. Before Binkie there had only been three men who held a part of my heart.

My rat of an ex-husband, Dickie, Joe and Ranger. Until Deuce stripped me of my dignity. I'd had control over the people that I let into my heart.

"I know you don't."

"I-I've never had a fling or one night stand before. I just never had the nerve and I'm not sure what came over me tonight. And honestly, Binkie. I really needed it. I've had so much pent up frustration. Feeling like people are constantly tip toeing around me. And I wanted to feel…sexy…"

"You are undeniably sexy, Alyssa," he said lifting my chin to meet his eyes. "If I can help you feel that way, then I'm willing and ready. But it doesn't have to be a one night stand now does it?" his eyes hooded over as he leaned into me for another captivating kiss.

"I-I don't think so?"

"I say that if we already made the one mistake, we might as well as take advantage of it and make the best of it," he continued kiss me and nibbled my ears. "What do you say?"

"Mmm…hmm..." I moaned

He stood up and bent over to lift me bridal style as he carried me to the bedroom. He gently placed me on the bed and kissed his way up to my lips.

His fingers grazed my inner thigh as his well-endowed manhood pressed against my side. His finger slipped into my pool and I bucked my hips towards him.

"Brent…" I moaned softly.

"I love how you say my name," he kissed my erect nipple. "Tell me how much you want me."

His finger slid further in, I grabbed his head and pulled him into my lips as I hungrily devoured him.

"Tell me," he grunted into my mouth as he pumped me vigorously with his fingers.

I pulled myself free of his lips and grasped his hand to stop him. He pulled away slightly worried of my abrupt reaction. I pushed him off of me causing him to roll over onto his back.

I sat up quickly and straddled his body. "Brent," I said leaning down over him and spoke sternly, "read my lips. I – WANT – YOU – INSIDE – OF – ME- NOW." I lifted my hips and lowered myself down onto his magic stick and rode him like the stallion he was.


End file.
